Does reduced psychological distance increase climate engagement? On the limits of localizing climate change
Does reduced psychological distance increase climate engagement? On the limits of localizing climate change
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.02.001
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发表时间：
2018-02-01
影响因子：
6.9
通讯作者：
Yang, Z. Janet
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Schuldt, Jonathon P.;Rickard, Laura N.;Yang, Z. Janet
人们普遍认为，减少对气候变化的心理距离将增加公众参与。然而，现有的研究受到相关设计的限制，或者由于描述的影响在距离上不同，但在种类或严重程度上也不同。我们进行了两个实验，只改变距离，保持撞击恒定。美国的参与者在判断国家的地理距离（研究1和2）和总结描述其气候脆弱性的视频（研究2）之前，完成了一个视觉空间任务，将马尔代夫——一个面临严重气候影响的偏远岛国——描绘为相对较近或较远。近距离条件下的参与者认为马尔代夫在地理上更近，并使用更具体（相对于抽象）的语言描述其气候影响，这表明心理距离的影响。然而，这种心理距离的减少并没有转化为政策支持的增加。与其他工作相辅相成的是，研究结果表明，气候变化本地化本身不太可能增加参与。(C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd.版权所有。
It is commonly suggested that reducing the psychological distance of climate change will increase public engagement. However, extant studies are limited by their correlational design, or by depicting impacts that vary in distance but also in kind or severity. We conducted two experiments designed to vary distance only, holding impacts constant. U.S. participants completed a visual-spatial task that portrayed the Maldives-a remote island nation facing severe climate impacts-as relatively proximal or distal, before judging the nation's geographic distance (Studies 1 and 2) and summarizing a video depicting its climate vulnerabilities (Study 2). Suggesting an effect on psychological distance, participants in the proximal condition judged the Maldives as geographically closer and described its climate impacts using more concrete (vs. abstract) language. However, this reduced psychological distance did not translate into increased policy support. Complementing other work, results suggest that localizing climate change, by itself, is unlikely to increase engagement. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.