DDRIG in DRMS: Exploring the role of existential fear appeals and social attachments in natural hazard risk assessment and behavior

气候变化对个人和更广泛的人类都是一个世界性的威胁。根据政府间气候变化专门委员会的最新报告，我们必须立即和迅速地实现净零碳排放，以避免许多最糟糕的影响。因此，对于政策制定者来说，确定如何激励公众追求碳减排将是至关重要的。该项目研究了在试验性环境中，通过支付意愿衡量的缓解气候变化的价值。该项目尤其侧重于如何在社会偏好的背景下向人们提供关于气候变化的信息(即，框定)。这项研究研究了社会偏好如何影响支付意愿，以及个人的社会偏好如何影响框架的影响。这项实验中使用的框架反映了气候变化的现实世界特征之一。发达国家的人均污染最大，但发展中国家最容易受到气候变化负面影响的影响。一些参与者接受了强调气候变化对他们自己直接风险的框架，而另一些参与者则接受了强调发展中国家风险的语言。假设前一种框架可能更有利于利己主义的个体，而更关心他人福利的个体更容易受到后一种框架的激励。这项实验的结果有助于为政策讨论提供信息。例如，这些发现可能会对试图进行全民公投的政策制定者有用。环保活动人士可能还会发现，这一结果有助于定制他们的信息。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Climate change is a worldwide threat for both the individual and humanity more broadly. According to the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have to immediately and rapidly reach net zero carbon emissions to avoid many of the worst effects. Determining how to motivate the public to pursue carbon mitigation will therefore be essential for policy makers. This project studies the value, measured by willingness to pay, placed on climate change mitigation in an experimental setting. In particular this project focuses on the way information about climate change is presented to people (i.e., framing) in the context of social preferences). The research studies how social preferences influence willingness to pay and, further, how an individual’s social preferences influence the impact of framing. The framing used in this experiment mirrors one of the real world characteristics of climate change. Developed nations pollute the most per capita, but developing nations are the most exposed to negative effects from climate change. Some participants receive framing emphasizing the risks from climate change to themselves directly, whereas others receive language emphasizing the risk to those in developing nations. The hypothesis is that the former framing may be more motivating to self-regarding individuals, whereas individuals who are more strongly concerned with others' welfare are more motivated by the latter framing. Results from this experiment help to inform policy discussions. The findings, for example, may be useful to policy makers trying to word a referendum. Environmental activists may also find the results helpful in tailoring their messages.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.