Patterns of belief and trust in climate change information

Abstract

A crucial hurdle to addressing climate change is science denial. While research suggests that science denial is related to judgments individuals make about the credibility of information sources, less is known about how source credibility and characteristics of the individual interact to affect science denial. In the present study, we examined the extent to which individuals' belief in climate change claims and trust in the sources of these claims were influenced by the interaction between the political leaning of information sources (i.e., conservative media vs. liberal media vs. scientific institutions), individuals' political ideologies, and individuals' epistemic beliefs (beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing). We found that both individuals' belief in climate change information and trust in sources were predicted by interactions between these variables. For example, participants who believed that facts are not politically constructed were more likely to believe in climate information and trust scientific sources, regardless of the participant's partisanship. These findings suggest that epistemic profiles associated with deference to scientific sources might protect against climate change denial. Therefore, cultivating such epistemic beliefs and the skills to critically evaluate sources could be instrumental to combating climate change denial.