Further, when every member of society has the chance to see “someone like them” speaking in favor of action on climate change, powerholders have a stronger mandate from which to work, and activists have a wellspring of concerned citizens from which to organize a movement. The empowering truth is that every public statement counts, and the more diverse the voices, the more effective the message will be. Those with the opportunity to speak to wider audiences (celebrities and other public figures elected officials directors of parks, zoos and museums educators) can not only speak directly to many, but can also encourage the wider public to speak up. Individuals, faith organizations, non-profits, and businesses can make public statements via traditional means (such as letters to the editor) as well as through more modern ones (through the use of online forums such as Twitter and Instagram). There are many scalable ways that this could happen. It simply requires that people be exposed, over and over from sources they trust or identify with, to the fact that they are not alone in their concern and their willingness to take action 10. find that support for climate policy is, in fact, overwhelming social norms can be changed, collective efficacy can be built, and these developments can occur quickly. While not addressed directly by their data, the implications are clear: Creating a sense of collective efficacy, that we can respond effectively to climate change, is all but impossible under this level of misperception. Sparkman et al.’s data provide a siren call: Americans believe a minority are willing to support climate policies, when in fact a supermajority do. Because climate change is a collective problem, taking action hinges on not just what we believe we personally can do, but on what we think others will do 7. Note that the window might not be glued shut! Your erroneous belief will stop you from trying anyway. If you believe the window in our thought experiment above is glued shut, you won’t even get out of your chair. Any misconceptions on their part influence how they behave, i.e., their willingness to support aggressive policies, make bold statements in their public outreach, or create “balanced” media coverage of climate change.Īnother key determinant of human behavior with extensive empirical support is efficacy, or our belief that we can do something. Misconceptions take on an even larger significance when we remember that those in positions of power are people too. The lack of public discussion reinforces the norm that others are not concerned and hampers the likelihood of collective organization to address climate change. People believe that others are not concerned-or that they are even skeptical of climate change-which encourages them to refrain from discussing it with others. Based on this new data and the recent work of others on pluralistic ignorance 9, it becomes clear that we are locked in a self-fulfilling spiral of silence. Currently, worrying about climate change is something people are largely doing in the privacy of their own minds. discuss one explanation for why others influence us-namely, that social norms (what we believe others are doing and thinking) are important and powerful determinants of behavior 8.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |