Facing global environmental change: The role of culturally embedded cognitive biases

Moser, Deyshawn; Steiglechner, Peter; Schlueter, Achim

doi:10.1016/j.envdev.2022.100735

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…[ 26 , 28 , 84 – 87 ]. Our findings imply that in the presence of confirmation bias, which is a crucial cognitive factor in the climate change debate [ 41 , 42 ], communication that leaves some space for ambiguity might prove beneficial not only for reaching an agreement but also for strengthening a shared concern on a topic like climate change. This is an important preliminary step for effective policy-making to address such political challenges, but one should be aware of the different kinds of noise and their different impacts on collective opinion formation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In this study, we present an agent-based model of opinion formation in which the agents are affected by bias and noise. We focus on confirmation bias as one of the most important cognitive biases affecting opinion formation (especially in the debate on climate change [41,42]). We extend the popular model by Deffuant et al [19] to represent this bias as bounded confidence (BC).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Noise and opinion dynamics: how ambiguity promotes pro-majority consensus in the presence of confirmation bias

Steiglechner,

Keijzer,

E. Smaldino

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Opinion dynamics are affected by cognitive biases and noise. While mathematical models have focused extensively on biases, we still know surprisingly little about how noise shapes opinion patterns. Here, we use an agent-based opinion dynamics model to investigate the interplay between confirmation bias—represented as bounded confidence—and different types of noise. After analysing where noise can enter social interaction, we propose a type of noise that has not been discussed so far, ambiguity noise. While previously considered types of noise acted on agents either before, after or independent of social interaction, ambiguity noise acts on communicated messages, assuming that socially transmitted opinions are inherently noisy. We find that noise can induce agreement when confirmation bias is moderate, but different types of noise require quite different conditions for this effect to occur. An application of our model to the climate change debate shows that at just the right mix of confirmation bias and ambiguity noise, opinions tend to converge to high levels of climate change concern. This result is not observed with the other types. Our findings highlight the importance of considering and distinguishing between the various types of noise and the unique role of ambiguity in opinion formation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noise and opinion dynamics: how ambiguity promotes pro-majority consensus in the presence of confirmation bias

Steiglechner,

Keijzer,

E. Smaldino

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

Self Cite

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“…However, aware of the psychological barriers that drive inaction towards the environment (Gifford, Lacroix and Chen, 2018), more in depth and up to date analyses of the cultural and sociological motifs that drive observance of proenvironmental behaviour are needed (Moser, Steiglechner and Schlueter, 2022), not just within China, but across the globe. During this transitionary phase towards a more sustainable world, on a regular basis, behavioural scientists should screen the populations, not just in the lab but also in the field (Goeschl et al, 2020), to inform policymakers on specific needs to exert leverage onto their public civic sense (Jacquet, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective cooperation leading to support of reforestation via a ‘climate public goods game’ in the Chinese collectivistic society

Pansini,

Kesberg,

Shi

2023

Preprint

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Theories on evolution of cooperation assume that interacting individuals can change their strategies under different expected payoffs and cultural contexts. The willingness to invest resources into partners and to cooperate may therefore vary in collectivistic Eastern Asia as opposed to more individualistic Western countries partly because of cultural differences. An experiment was implemented examining the willingness of young Chinese subjects to mitigate the consequences of climate change in a country severely affected by air pollution. Following a design already implemented in Germany (Jacquet et al. 2013 Nat Clim Change), we set up a public goods game in which groups of six students had to reach a minimum investment threshold to be able to save funds for a reforestation project to curb climate change. Differently from the German model in which none of the groups managed to reach the threshold, five out of eight Chinese groups cooperate successfully to reach the reforestation goal. We attribute to cultural differences of individualism and collectivism the main explanation for these different results. In China, in fact, collectivistic values allow for the emergence of this environmentally driven cooperation.

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“…It could also be that the equestrian field is steeped in tradition [ 36 ] leading to an uphill struggle to influence human behavior change from “what they have always done”. Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon whereby factual information that is contrary to personal beliefs motivates the belief holder to either deny personal responsibility, trivialize the facts, process only selective information that fits within their belief model, or change their attitude and behavior completely [ 37 ]. Since changing attitudes and behavior is the most difficult step, cognitive dissonance more often contributes to inaction, no sense of urgency for action, or selective action that further fosters polarization of the issue.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noseband Fit: Measurements and Perceptions of Canadian Equestrians

Merkies

Copelin

Small

et al. 2022

Animals

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Recent concerns regarding horse welfare during competition has highlighted the occurrence of overtightened nosebands on competition horses. Current rules are often vague—e.g., “nosebands may never be so tightly fixed as to harm the horse.” To investigate the need and acceptance prior to any rule changes Equestrian Canada (EC) launched a pilot noseband measuring project. Nineteen officiating stewards measured noseband fit using the ISES taper gauge (TG) at 32 equestrian events of various disciplines in 2021. Additionally, stakeholder surveys collected data from 1528 EC members and 27 stewards regarding opinions and perceptions on noseband use, fit, measurement and rules. Descriptive and qualitative statistics along with Pearson chi-squared examined relationships between specific variables. Of the 551 horses tested with the TG, 71% passed the 1.5 cm (two-fingers) measurement and an additional 19% passed the 1 cm (one-finger) measurement. Stewards unanimously agreed that overtightened nosebands present a welfare issue although 63% believed this to represent only a small subset of riders. While 60% of stewards believed the current rules were sufficient, 40% did not. Despite the fact that 84% of stewards believe there should be a standardized fit across disciplines, 52% felt the use of the TG should be at their discretion. The top three reasons riders indicated for using nosebands were discipline expectation (41%), requirement for competition (39%) or for control/safety (32%). Open comments referred to an option to not wear a noseband in competition. Professional riders believed overtightened nosebands were less of a welfare issue than amateur riders (76% vs. 88% respectively; p < 0.025) and correspondingly did not feel the TG was a fair method (44% vs. 68% respectively; p < 0.001). Slightly more than half of the respondents (51.5%) believed that measuring noseband fit on the frontal nasal plane was the appropriate location. To advance equestrian practice, more education is needed to inform stakeholders of the reasons for noseband measurements and appropriate fit.

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Facing global environmental change: The role of culturally embedded cognitive biases

Cited by 10 publications

References 79 publications

Noise and opinion dynamics: how ambiguity promotes pro-majority consensus in the presence of confirmation bias

Noise and opinion dynamics: how ambiguity promotes pro-majority consensus in the presence of confirmation bias

Effective cooperation leading to support of reforestation via a ‘climate public goods game’ in the Chinese collectivistic society

Noseband Fit: Measurements and Perceptions of Canadian Equestrians

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