Increasing Climate Mitigation Behaviors without Increasing Belief in Climate Change

• In Event: Climate Policy, Public Opinion, and Governance

Abstract

Partisan beliefs about climate change are deeply entrenched, and changing beliefs is generally considered a prerequisite to changing behaviors. However, I show that it is possible to increase climate mitigation behaviors without increasing climate beliefs. Using two preregistered survey experiments on solar panels (n = 9,298) and electric vehicles (n = 9,903), I find that different messages from Republican elites made Republicans more likely to adopt solar energy, even though no message increased belief in climate change. Climate mitigation behaviors may be more malleable than climate change beliefs. Furthermore, messages about climate change also successfully induced mitigation behaviors, challenging the scholarly consensus that discussing climate change triggers a "backfire effect" among Republicans that reduces their support for climate mitigation. Finally, I apply the influential theory of "credibility-enhancing displays" to politics for the first time. I find limited evidence that partisan elites become more effective at motivating mitigation behaviors when they themselves engage in those behaviors.

Author

• Victor Yuhang Wu, Stanford University