THE RELEVANCE OF PERCEIVED PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTANCE TO

CLIMATE CHANGE FOR BUILDING CONCERN ABOUT IT AND THE POTENTIAL FOR EDUCATION

Moritz Gubler, Adrian Brügger, & Marc Eyer

International Symposium on Climate Change and the Role of Education12th & 13th April 2019

Lincoln, UK

10.05.2019 2

CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION: BASELINE?

Easyjet (2013)

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

“Transfer of knowledge and competencies that enable for taking responsibility for the environment, fellow human beings and society”

BFS (2015)

10.05.2019 3

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS: ABSTRACT AND DISTANT?

WWW; NYT (2016) IPCC (2013); VAW-ETHZ (2010)

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

10.05.2019 4

Perceived psychological distance- Space («not here»)- Time («not now»)- Social similarity («not me»)- Hypotheticality («not sure»)

Construal Level Theory? Perceived distance as predictorfor climate change concern and action?

RISK PERCEPTION, CONCERN, AND ACTION?

Spence et al. (2012) Steinberg, The New Yorker (1976)

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

10.05.2019 5

PERCEPTIONS & CONCERN AMONG ADOLESCENTS?

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

Paper-and-pencil questionnaire (Oct. – Nov. 2018)- Self-reported knowledge about climate change- Psychological distance dimensions (12 items)- Concern about climate change (4 items)- Attitude towards nature & value orientations (26 items)- Socio-demographics (gender, age, school type)

Participants (N = 587)- 51.7% females- 14 – 17 years (ø = 14.9); middle adolescence- Canton of Berne (Switzerland); alpine, rural, & urban communities- Basic I (25.9%), general I (31.6%), & upper II (42.4%) seconday school (9th grade)

MaleFemale 14 15 16 17 Secondary I Secondary II

10.05.2019 6

Climate change perceived as rather spatially (and socially) distant

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

RISK PERCEPTION: SPATIAL DISTANCE

Climate change is mostlyaffecting areas that are far away.

Climate change is mostlyaffecting the area where I live.

First thoughts about theimpacts of climate change are

about the area where I live.

10.05.2019 7

Climate change perceived as rather hypothetically (and temporally) close

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

RISK PERCEPTION: HYPOTHETICAL DISTANCE

I am certain that climatechange is happening.

Science agrees that humansare responsible for current

climate change.

I wonder if climate change isa serious threat at all.

10.05.2019 8

Pronounced concern about climate change

LEVEL OF CONCERN ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

The more I know about theeffects of climate change,

the more I am worried.

When I think about the effects ofclimate change, I worry a lot.

The thought about the effectsof climate change worries me

every day.

I classify the effects of climatechange as harmless.

10.05.2019 9

Hierarchical linear regression analysis (4 block-wise models, 1 full model)

PREDICTORS OF CLIMATE CHANGE CONCERN?

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

Predictor block Variance explainedby predictor block (R2)

Std. β-coeff. of full model

Psychological distanceHypotheticalityTimeSocial similarity

44%-0.35***-0.18***-0.15***

Values & attitudesIdealismAttitude towards nature

26%0.13***0.12***

Self-reported knowledge 18% 0.17***

Socio-demographicsGender (female)School type

13%0.13***0.08 *

Distant perception of climate change lower levels of concern about it Complex interplay of different predictor variables

10.05.2019 10

Factors known to increase climate engagement among young people - Risk perception & concern about climate change- Perceived self-efficacy & hope- Peers, family, & group identification?- Values, beliefs, & world views?- Knowledge?- Origin & place identity?

CLIMATE CHANGE CONCERN = CLIMATE ACTION?

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONSStevenson et al. (2018) Keystone (Berne, 15th March 2019)

10.05.2019 11

Reducing psychological distance in educational contexts Learning material focussing on certain, local, present, and personally relevant aspects

of climate change («certainly happens here, now and to people like you»)

Open questions- Effects of differently framed information about climate change?- What if it gets too close?- Psychological distancing as an emotion-focused coping strategy?

POTENTIAL FOR CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION?

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION CONCLUSIONS

10.05.2019 12

1. Perception of psychological distance to climate change: dimension matters Hypotheticality & time: «close»; space & social similarity: «distant»

2. Strong link between perceived distance and concern about climate change The closer, the more concerned & vice-versa

3. Reducing psychological distance: potential for education Personal relevance through closer perceptions of climate change?

4. Complexity of factors fostering climate engagment Integration for development of effective teaching materials and approaches

CONCLUSIONS

INTRODUCTION METHODS RESULTS CONCLUSIONSDISCUSSION

10.05.2019 13

Contact details

moritz.gubler@phbern.chInstitute for Research, Development, and EvaluationUniversity of Teacher Education BerneSwitzerland

ReferencesBrügger et al. (2015): Psychological responses to the proximity of climate change. Nature Climate Change, 5: 1031-1037.

Corner et al. (2015): How do young people engage with climate change? The role of knowledge, values, message framing, and trusted communicators. WIREs

Climate Change, 6: 523-534.

Gubler, Brügger & Eyer (2019): Adolescents’ Perceptions of the Psychological Distance to Climate Change, Its Relevance for Building Concern about It, and the

Potential for Education.

Liberman & Trope (2008): The psychology of transcending the here and now. Science, 322: 1201-1205.

Ojala (2016): Young People and Global Climate Change: Emotions, Coping, and Engagement in Everyday Life. In: Geographies of Global Issues: Change and

Threat. Singapore: Springer Singapore

Ojala & Lakew (2017): Young People and Climate Change Communication. In: Oxford Reasearch Encyclopedia of Climate Science. USA: Oxford University Press

Spence, Poortinga, & Pidgeon (2012): The psychological distance of climate change. Risk Analysis, 32 (6): 957-972.

Stevenson, Peterson, & Bondell (2018). Developing a model of climate change behavior among adolescents. Climatic Change, 151(3), 589-603.

Van der Linden, Maibach, & Leiserowitz (2015): Improving public engagement with climate change: Five «best practice» insights from psychological science.

Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10 (6): 758-763.

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!