Reducing Climate Change Denial and Increasing Support for Climate-Friendly Policies: The Role of Climate Change Education

Abstract

Insufficient US public education and misinformation from other sources contribute to climate change (CC) denial. Public US university students in the South (Study 1) and Northeast (Studies 1 and 2) were randomly assigned to watch two educational science videos on CC (experimental condition) or flu viruses (control condition). Experimental (vs. control) condition participants reported (a) less agreement with statements reflecting CC denial (immediate post-test [Studies 1 and 2] and delayed post-test [Study 2]); (b) greater agreement with statements about the existence, seriousness, and human causes of CC and hope for CC interventions (immediate post-test [Studies 1 and 2]); (c) greater intentions to support climate-friendly US policies (immediate post-test [Study 1]); and (d) less negative feelings about CC (delayed post-test [Study 2]), when controlling for gender and political leaning. Implications for effectively addressing CC education among university students with relatively easy-to-implement, time-efficient, and cost-effective interventions are discussed.