Climate change and intergroup relations: Psychological insights, synergies, and future prospects

Abstract

Climate change is often conceived as a technical challenge, requiring smart policies and science-driven solutions. Yet, as revealed by each new round of international negotiations, and by growing (rather than receding) partisan divides on climate change in the United States, climate change is also profoundly social: How people understand and engage with the issue is powerfully influenced by the responses of others, including members of ingroups and outgroups. This special issue brings together research and theory that shed light on new and understudied group and intergroup dimensions of climate change. The featured articles showcase the breadth of social psychological processes (e.g., social identity and categorization processes, intergroup perceptions, normative influence, justice concerns, and group-based ideologies) relevant to the study of climate change while highlighting how the problem’s shared, global relevance poses unique questions and opportunities for the field. We explore the contributions of these articles to the social psychological study of climate change and highlight new challenges and pathways forward.

The gateway belief model: A large-scale replication

“…In addition, conservatives are unlikely to take cues from liberals on politically polarized issues and vice versa. In other words, the intergroup nature of the climate change conflict calls for neutral mediators (Pearson & Schuldt, 2018;Swim & Bloodhart, 2018).…”

Coping Strategies Regarding Coastal Flooding Risk in a Context of Climate Change in a French Caribbean Island

“…Research studies concerning the adaptation to climate change and environmental risks are fundamentally focused on the vulnerability of geographical areas (Adger & Kelly, 1999) as well as technical challenges (Pearson & Schuldt, 2018). Some researchers take an interest in risk appraisal by citizens (Breakwell, 2001;Safi et al, 2012;Spence et al, 2011Spence et al, , 2012.…”

Opposition to Immigration and (Anti‐)Environmentalism: An Application and Extension of the Social Dominance‐Environmentalism Nexus with 21 Countries in Europe

“…There is ever-increasing scientific consensus that ongoing and projected changes in Earth's geology and ecosystems will lead to critical consequences for human and non-human life in the planet (Lewis & Maslin, 2015;Rockström et al, 2009). Against this backdrop, there have been calls for more research that examines how to encourage accelerated and significant changes in behaviors, organizations and institutions to deliver effective mitigation and adaptation endeavors across the world (Pearson & Schuldt, 2018;Steg, 2018).…”

“…There is ever‐increasing scientific consensus that ongoing and projected changes in Earth’s geology and ecosystems will lead to critical consequences for human and non‐human life in the planet (Lewis & Maslin, 2015; Rockström et al, 2009). Against this backdrop, there have been calls for more research that examines how to encourage accelerated and significant changes in behaviors, organizations, and institutions to deliver effective mitigation and adaptation endeavors across the world (Pearson & Schuldt, 2018; Steg, 2018). Applications from psychology may provide relevant contributions to address these calls and help understand the features that may drive or hinder these endeavors (Drenth, 2008; Van Langue et al, 2018), which at the sociopsychological level may comprise a mixture of pursuit of self‐interest (i.e., perceived gains and losses for the self) and concern for others (e.g., other individuals, groups, generations, species, or entire ecosystems) (Bamberg & Möser, 2007; Panno et al, 2018).…”