Differences between Conservatives and Liberals in Information-Seeking Behavior and Perceived Risks Associated with Climate-Driven Changes to Local Forest Conditions

Abstract

Ideological value sets have the potential to shape individuals’ preferences as well as their psychological and behavioral responses to new information. Being socially constructed, ideologies are likely to be formed and modified through the exchanges individuals have in their established information and communication networks. This study examined whether or not individuals’ political ideologies and their access to climate-related information are related to several key factors influencing their perceived capacity to adapt to climate-driven changes to local forest conditions. The key factors investigated include: perceived risk; the willingness to learn about potential impacts; the willingness to plan for variable climate futures; and a general perception of self-efficacy. Data come from a mail survey completed by 420 full-time residents living in three amenity-rich forest-related communities in western North Carolina (United States). The results suggest individuals’ political ideologies are related to some, but not all, of the information sources asked about. The results also suggest political ideologies are related to perceived risk, with conservatives perceiving climate-driven changes to local forest conditions as more severe relative to liberals. These findings have several implications regarding the effective dissemination of information related to how increasingly variable climate conditions may affect local forest conditions.

An Assessment of Public Perceptions of Climate Change Risk in Three Western U.S. Cities

“…Other ideological measures, such as market environmentalism (e.g., Perron et al 2001) and conservative and liberal political values, also influence risk perception. Members of the U.S. public identifying as conservative or Republican have lower risk perception related to general climate change impacts (Egan and Mullin 2017;McCright and Dunlap 2011), but the relationship between risk perception and political orientation may be different when risk perceptions of specific local climate change impacts are examined (Smith et al 2016). Greater trust in government actors and institutions is correlated with greater support of climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, but the relationship between trust in government and risk perception is less clear (Lorenzoni and Pidgeon 2006).…”

“…In this article, when we use the term ''risk perceptions,'' we are referring to increasing perceptions of risk (i.e., someone with greater risk perception thinks climate change poses greater risks) and risk perceptions related to climate change (unless stated otherwise). Risk is a subjective construct often conceptualized as potential damage or harm (Slovic 2000). The public uses a complex suite of factors to evaluate perceived risk from climate change, including trust, values, experience, and emotion, among others (Leiserowitz 2005).…”

The influence of media consumption on public risk perception: a meta-analysis

“…The survey results showed that the more the students trusted the media, the more easily they accepted the content it reported and the stronger was their risk perception. Similarly, a study conducted by Smith, Bitsura-Meszaros, and Keane (2016) revealed that in the face of risks brought by climate-induced abrupt changes in local forest conditions, public trust in media is positively correlated with risk perception.…”

“…MSC refers to the personal judgement of the public on media credibility (Dong, Hu, and Zhu 2018). In a study on the influence of MSC on local public perception of environmental risk, Smith, Bitsura-Meszaros, and Keane (2016) used the Richter scale and asked survey participants to report the degree of trust towards the media information they obtained from various sources, including local newspapers or magazines, local TV news, and online news sources. Credibility of media sources effectively influences individual views and attitudes (Pornpitakpan 2004).…”