The Influence of Climate Change Efficacy Messages and Efficacy Beliefs on Intended Political Participation

Using an online survey experiment with a national sample, this study examined how changing the type and valence of efficacy information in news stories discussing global climate change may impact intended political participation through the mediators of perceived internal, external, and response eff...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2016-08, Vol.11 (8), p.e0157658-e0157658
Main Authors: Hart, P Sol, Feldman, Lauren
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biology and Life Sciences
Climate Change
Climate change influences
Climatic change influences
Communication
Earth Sciences
Effectiveness
Efficacy
Female
Global climate
Global temperature changes
Humans
Influence
Intention
Male
Mass Media
Media coverage
Mediation
Middle Aged
News
Paternalism
Perceptions
Physical Sciences
Political activism
Political behavior
Political participation
Politics
Public participation
Research and Analysis Methods
Social Sciences
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States - ethnology
Young Adult
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Summary:Using an online survey experiment with a national sample, this study examined how changing the type and valence of efficacy information in news stories discussing global climate change may impact intended political participation through the mediators of perceived internal, external, and response efficacy. Overall, the results revealed that after a single exposure to a news story, stories including positive internal efficacy content increased perceived internal efficacy, while stories including negative external efficacy content lowered perceived external efficacy. There were limited impacts of other types of efficacy content on perceived efficacy. Perceived internal, external, and response efficacy all offered unique, positive associations with intentions to engage in climate change-related political participation. The results suggest that news stories including positive internal efficacy information in particular have the potential to increase public engagement around climate change. The implications for science communication are discussed.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0157658