Public agreement with misinformation about wind farms

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 8888 - 12
• Main Authors: Winter, Kevin, Hornsey, Matthew J., Pummerer, Lotte, Sassenberg, Kai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 15.10.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 706/4066; 706/689/477; Adult; Agreements; Australia; Communication; Conspiracy; False information; Farms; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Male; multidisciplinary; Public Opinion; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); United Kingdom; United States; Wind; Wind farms; Wind power; Australia; United States; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53278-2

Misinformation campaigns target wind farms, but levels of agreement with this misinformation among the broader public are unclear. Across six nationally quota-based samples in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia (total N  = 6008), over a quarter of respondents agree with half or more of contrarian claims about wind farms. Agreement with diverse claims is highly correlated, suggesting an underlying belief system directed at wind farm rejection. Consistent with this, agreement is best predicted (positively) by a conspiracist worldview (i.e., the general tendency to believe in conspiracy theories; explained variance Δ R²  = 0.11–0.20) and (negatively) by a pro-ecological worldview (Δ R²  = 0.04–0.13). Exploratory analyses show that agreement with contrarian claims is associated with lower support for pro-wind policies and greater intentions to protest against wind farms. We conclude that wind farm contrarianism is a mainstream phenomenon, rooted in people’s worldviews and that poses a challenge for communicators and institutions committed to accelerating the energy transition. Six surveys show substantial public agreement with misinformation about wind farms. Agreement with diverse contrarian claims is best predicted by participants’ worldviews, most notably the tendency to believe conspiracy theories.