Cultural Perspectives on Climate Change: Examining Differences among College Students in Climate Change Threat Perception, Knowledge, and Behaviors.

• Date: 01 April 2021
• Author: Hecht, Hanna R.
• Published date: 01 April 2021
• Author: Hecht, Hanna R.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our planet. Over the past several decades--and especially in recent years--the world has seen this problem grow and has observed the devastating impacts that it has had on local communities and the global community at large: Weather patterns have shifted, threatening food supply and production; sea levels have risen, increasing the risk of catastrophic flooding; global average temperatures have climbed, jeopardizing public health and biodiversity. (1) Thus, if local, state, and federal governments, as well as businesses, communities, and individuals continue with a "business as usual" approach to climate change, these calamitous effects will only worsen and broaden in scope of impact. According to the 2018 Special Report released by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global average temperature will likely increase 1.5-2.0[degrees]C by 2030 if climate change remains unabated, exacerbating current climate-related risks and impacts for both human and natural systems. (2)

To thoroughly address this pressing issue, one must be able to effectively communicate its severity to the public in a manner that will incite action and inspire change. However, given the multifaceted diversity of our global community, it is inevitable that public knowledge and attitudes regarding the climate crisis will vary among and within countries and their respective cultures. Therefore, it is very important to be able to gauge cultural perspectives on this issue to be able to more effectively tailor our climate change communication to meet these various baseline measures and overcome certain cultural differences that may serve as an advantage or disadvantage in engendering climate action. Furthermore, assessing the climate-related thoughts and opinions of younger generations--particularly college students--is vital to achieving effective climate change communication, as today's youth will comprise the next generation of thought leaders, policy makers, and catalysts.

Literature Review

Given its ubiquitous effects and increasing media attention, there is a growing and diverse body of research on climate change as it relates to the public's awareness, understanding, and attitudes. This section reviews relevant research on climate change threat perception, knowledge, and behavior; greenhouse gas emissions; college students; cultural worldview; and the Cultural Theory of Risk. Throughout this paper, the term "climate change" rather than "global warming" will be used, except when referencing studies in which the latter is employed as a stimulus term. While these two terms are often used interchangeably, they are not synonymous, as "global warming" strictly refers to increases in temperature resulting from rising atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions. (3) The more scientifically correct term, "climate change," thus accounts for the more varied changes in the climactic system--such as alterations in precipitation distribution and intensity--in addition to rising temperatures, that result from increasing greenhouse gas emissions. (4)

Climate Change Threat Perception, Knowledge, & behavior

Research on cross-national public threat perception, knowledge, and behavior regarding climate change dates back to the early 1990s, when the George H. Gallup International Institute conducted their "Health of the Planet" (HOP) survey, which was the largest environmental opinion survey to ever be administered at the time. (5) The HOP study surveyed twenty-four nations of varying levels of economic development and political stability. Overall, results suggested a high level of concern for environmental issues among a majority of citizens in both industrialized and developing countries. (6)

This international survey laid the groundwork for three pioneering studies in the field of climate change communication. Two studies released in 1998 both found a universal awareness yet vague understanding of climate change among respondents in cross-national surveys on environmental attitudes. (7) Findings from these studies also suggested limited perceived threat of climate change impacts, as respondents indicated greater concern for other environmental and social issues. (8) However, these analyses and findings were largely skewed towards the Western world (i.e. the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Mexico, and Brazil). In 2003, Brechin obtained data from a more diverse sample of countries: While he found a slight increase in global understanding of climate change and its anthropogenic (i.e. man-made or human-induced) causes, he identified a consistent lack of knowledge regarding the overall problem. (9) Additionally, in concurrence with the two previous studies and the 1992 HOP Gallup poll, Brechin found no statistically significant difference in climate change knowledge between "developed" and "developing' nations." (10)

Since these four foundational studies were published, research on global public attitudes regarding climate change has boomed and researchers have collected data from an increasing number of countries around the world. As a result, more recent studies have identified widespread patterns and long-term trends in the lay public's climate change-related threat perception, knowledge, and behaviors, greatly improving our understanding of the issue. (11)

"Threat perception" refers to one's interpretation of risk and corresponding level of concern based on his or her beliefs or understanding of danger. (12) These public threat perceptions are shaped by a wide variety of factors, including social and psychological variables, as well as technical and scientific definitions of danger. (13) With regard to climate change, more recent studies have found wide discrepancies among countries in public threat perception and level of concern for the issue: While climate change concern tends to be high among citizens in developing nations, the issue is perceived as a distant, non-personal threat by those in more developed countries. (14) For instance, the 2009 Pew Global Attitudes Project surveyed twenty-five countries and found that, when asked if global warming is a "very serious problem," 67 percent of respondents in India agreed with the statement as compared to only 44 percent of respondents in the United States and 30 percent of respondents in China. (15) These findings clearly contradict past findings that have suggested a universally high level of concern and perceived threat of climate change, prompting the need for further research on the topic. (16)

Trends in the global public's climate change knowledge--which refers to the factually correct climate change-related information acquired and employed by an individual--have also been identified in recent studies. While past studies have reported consistent levels of climate change awareness and knowledge across the global population, more recent findings suggest the contrary. Similar to the aforementioned studies on threat perception, those that have examined climate change-related knowledge have also discovered large differences among developed and developing countries. (17) For instance, when Lee et al. surveyed a representative sample of the world's adult population from 199 countries, they found that approximately 40 percent of adults worldwide have never heard of climate change. (18) Moreover, while over 90 percent of the public in developed regions, like North America, Europe, and Japan, were aware of climate change, more than 65 percent of adults in developing countries, such as Egypt, Bangladesh, and India, were generally unaware of the issue. (19) This finding has been replicated and supported in other studies, such as Pugliese and Ray's Gallup report, which identified that only about 61 percent of the world's population knew "something" about global climate change. (20) Therefore, while this body of research provides great insight into worldwide awareness and knowledge levels regarding climate change, further research is, again, necessary to explore the conflicting findings that exist on the topic.

"Climate change mitigation behavior" refers to any human intervention that aims to "reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases." (21) These behaviors span across all major economic sectors (e.g. food, agriculture and land management, and transportation) and include individual actions such as recycling; walking, biking, or using public transportation to commute rather than driving a car; and reducing consumption of single-use and disposable items. (22) Despite the importance that these individual-level behaviors serve in allaying the impacts and consequences of climate change, little research exists on the topic. To date, most of the literature on climate change mitigation behavior focuses on the various personal and psychological factors that predict one's likelihood of engaging in these pro-environmental behaviors. (23) As such, many studies have specifically focused on the role that an individual's climate change threat perception and knowledge play in influencing corresponding mitigation behaviors. (24) While some studies have found that different types of climate change knowledge (e.g. casual, action-related, result-related, etc.) have varying effects on climate change threat perception and willingness to engage in mitigation behaviors, most findings support the general conclusion that higher levels of climate change knowledge and concern positively correlate with likelihood of pro-environmental behavior change. (25)

Some researchers have also examined the way in which certain cognitive styles and habitual thought patterns can serve as barriers to individual and collective climate action. (26) In one such study, O'Riordan and Stoll-Kleemann used Kahneman's concepts of "fast" and "slow" thinking to explain why it is often more difficult for people to make sustainable dietary shifts (e.g. transitioning...