Communicating Climate Change: Why Frames Matter for Public Engagement

Nisbet, Matthew C.

doi:10.3200/envt.51.2.12-23

Cited by 929 publications

(805 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Our findings are consistent with past scholarship describing the influence of different message frames in public responses to climate change (Nisbet 2009). Our results are also consistent with past research that has found that a diversity of audience segments respond positively to an emphasis on the public health consequences of climate change and the health benefits of action (Maibach et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…More recently, it is increasingly being framed as a political problem. Social scientists, however, have suggested a variety of potential alternative frames, each of which can validly and accurately emphasize other relevant dimensions of the issue-such as public health, national security, extreme weather events, and/or the economy (Nisbet 2009;Nisbet and Scheufele 2009;Maibach et al 2010). Such alternative frames may be more effective at engaging audiences than the environmental or political frames that currently dominate public discourse.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Framing-whether intentional or not-involves selectively emphasizing certain dimensions of an issue over others, setting the context for perception and discussion around specific causes, risks, policy actions, and costs/benefits that might result from these actions. The frame used suggests both the diagnosis of the problem as well as prescriptions for what should be done about it (Nisbet 2009;Scheufele 1999). Moreover, the way an issue is framed-in the media or in other communications-interacts with audience members' pre-existing schema, mental models and values.…”

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confidence: 99%

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A public health frame arouses hopeful emotions about climate change

et al. 2012

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Communication researchers and practitioners have suggested that framing climate change in terms of public health and/or national security may make climate change more personally relevant and emotionally engaging to segments of the public who are currently disengaged or even dismissive of the issue. To evaluate these assumptions, using a nationally representative online survey of U.S. residents (N01,127) conducted in December, 2010, we randomly assigned six previously identified audience segments on climate change to one of three experimental conditions. Subjects were asked to read uniquely framed news articles about climate change emphasizing either the risks to the environment, public health, or national security and the benefits of mitigation and adaptation-related actions. Results show that across audience segments, the public health focus was the most likely to elicit emotional reactions consistent with support for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Findings also indicated that the national security frame may possibly boomerang among audience segments already doubtful or dismissive of the issue, eliciting unintended feelings of anger.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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A public health frame arouses hopeful emotions about climate change

et al. 2012

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“…To be effective, science communication must successfully negotiate both channels. That is, in addition to furnishing individuals with valid and pertinent information about how the world works, it must avail itself of the cues necessary to assure individuals that assenting to that information will not estrange them from their communities (Kahan, Slovic, Braman & Gastil 2006;Nisbet & Scheufele 2009;Nisbet 2009). …”

Section: Two Channels Of Science Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geoengineering and the Science Communication Environment: A Cross-Cultural Experiment

et al. 2012

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We conducted a two-nation study (United States, n = 1500; England, n = 1500) to test a novel theory of science communication. The cultural cognition thesis posits that individuals make extensive reliance on cultural meanings in forming perceptions of risk. The logic of the cultural cognition thesis suggests the potential value of a distinctive two-channel science communication strategy that combines information content ("Channel 1") with cultural meanings ("Channel 2") selected to promote openminded assessment of information across diverse communities. In the study, scientific information content on climate change was held constant while the cultural meaning of that information was experimentally manipulated. Consistent with the study hypotheses, we found that making citizens aware of the potential contribution of geoengineering as a supplement to restriction of CO2 emissions helps to offset cultural polarization over the validity of climate-change science. We also tested the hypothesis, derived from competing models of science communication, that exposure to information on geoengineering would provoke discounting of climate-change risks generally. Contrary to this hypothesis, we found that subjects exposed to information about geoengineering were slightly more concerned about climate change risks than those assigned to a control condition.

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“…Summarizing the convergent findings of numerous research studies, Epstein posits that experientially derived knowledge is often more compelling and more likely to influence behaviour than is abstract knowledge. Likewise, Nisbet (2009) argues that vivid, concrete information has a greater influence on perceptions and inferences than technical information. The preceding theoretical discussion informs our analysis on the relationship between perceived environmental change on the one hand, and compositional, contextual and psychosocial factors, on the other hand.…”

Section: Theoretical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitored versus experience-based perceptions of environmental change: evidence from coastal Tanzania

Armah

Luginaah

Chuenpagdee

et al. 2015

Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences

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The impacts of climate change are likely to exacerbate many problems that coastal areas already face. In this study, we used multinomial logistic regression to examine human perception of climate change based on a cross-sectional survey of 1253 individuals in coastal regions of Tanzania. This was complemented with time series analysis of 50-year meteorological data. The results indicate that self-rated ability to handle work pressure, self-rated ability to handle personal pressure and unexpected difficulties, age, region and educational status were significant predictors of perceived temperature change unlike ethnicity and gender. A disproportionately large percentage of respondents of all ages indicated that temperature was getting hotter between the past 10 and 30 years. This observation was supported by the time series analysis. Although respondents also alluded to changes in rainfall patterns in the past 10 -30 years, time series analysis of rainfall revealed a different scenario except for Mtwara region of Tanzania. Because there is agreement between respondents' perceptions of temperature and available scientific climatic evidence over the 50-year period, this study argues that when meteorological records are incomplete or unavailable, local perceptions of climatic changes can be used to complement scientific climatic evidence. Based on the spatial differentials in climate change perception observed in this study, there is opportunity for a more locally oriented adaptation dimension to climate policy integration, which has hitherto been underserved by both academics and policymakers.

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Communicating Climate Change: Why Frames Matter for Public Engagement

Cited by 929 publications

References 18 publications

A public health frame arouses hopeful emotions about climate change

A public health frame arouses hopeful emotions about climate change

Geoengineering and the Science Communication Environment: A Cross-Cultural Experiment

Monitored versus experience-based perceptions of environmental change: evidence from coastal Tanzania

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