Extending the RISP Model: Elaboration, Policy Support, and Behavioral Intention Related to Climate Change Mitigation

• In Event: Risk Models and Communities at Risk: From Climate Change to Asbestos

Abstract

This study extends the central part of the Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP) model to examine how message elaboration influences individuals’ support for climate change mitigation policy and their intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior. Data were collected through online experimental surveys at two large universities in the Northeastern United States. Advancing research based on the RISP model, information insufficiency and attribution of treatment responsibility were experimentally manipulated. Results indicate that perceived issue salience triggered negative affect and information insufficiency, both of which prompted systematic processing, which subsequently led to greater policy support and stronger intention to adopt more pro-environmental behaviors. Further, with a few exceptions, these relationships were consistent across the experimental conditions. From an applied perspective, this study suggests important pathways to encourage greater message elaboration, which may lead to increased public support for mitigation policies and adoption of pro-environmental behavior.

Authors

• Zheng Janet Yang, State U of New York - Buffalo

• Mihye Seo, SUNY - Albany

• Laura N. Rickard, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

• Teresa Marie Harrison, SUNY - Albany