Correcting misinformation about climate change: the impact of partisanship in an experimental setting

Misperceptions of the scientific consensus on climate change are an important problem in environmental policy. These misperceptions stem from a combination of ideological polarization and statements from prominent politicians who endorse information contradicting or misrepresenting the scientific co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inClimatic change Vol. 148; no. 1-2; pp. 61 - 80
Main Authors Benegal, Salil D., Scruggs, Lyle A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.05.2018
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Anthropogenic climate changes
Anthropogenic factors
Atmospheric Sciences
Climate change
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Corrections
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environmental policy
Human influences
Partisanship
Polarization
Respondents
Surveying
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Summary:Misperceptions of the scientific consensus on climate change are an important problem in environmental policy. These misperceptions stem from a combination of ideological polarization and statements from prominent politicians who endorse information contradicting or misrepresenting the scientific consensus on climate change. Our study tests a source credibility theory of correction using different partisan sources of information in a survey experiment. We find that corrections from Republicans speaking against their partisan interest are most likely to persuade respondents to acknowledge and agree with the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. The extent of these effects vary by the partisanship of the recipient. Our results suggest that the partisan gap on climate change can be reduced by highlighting the views of elite Republicans who acknowledge the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change.
ISSN:0165-0009
1573-1480
DOI:10.1007/s10584-018-2192-4