An experimental investigation into climate change denial

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The scientific evidence that climate change is happening and ispredominantly human-made is now more certain than the evidence for thelink between smoking and lung cancer, or Darwinian evolution. Alarmingly,the number of people denying climate change is on the increase, reflected instatements by prominent figures such as Donald Trump dismissing climatechange as a "Chinese hoax". This study sets out to explore why this might behappening, by investigating whether subconscious "defence mechanisms" areblocking peoples' rational responses to climate change. Until now, themajority of interventions aimed at making people more aware of climatechange and attempting to help them behave in more environmentallyfriendly ways have treated people as rational decision makers. Theseapproaches have ignored psychologically complex emotional responses suchas feelings of helplessness, vulnerability, guilt, defiance and denial. Theseresponses may mean that communications about climate change may havethe opposite effect to that which is intended, driving people further towardsdenial, and even motivating them to behave in ways that are directlydamaging to the environment, such as excessive consumption. This study willuse innovative methods to investigate subconscious defence mechanismsthat lead to these feelings, in a wide range of participants with differentpolitical views and different attitudes to the environment. The study willinform how public policy interventions relating to climate change might beimproved and will identify how climate change might be more effectivelycommunicated, taught and engaged with.