McCabe, Nathan, Mr (2022) The More You Know: The Role of Knowledge in Public Acceptability of Climate Change Mitigation Pathways. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Traditionally, the information deficit model has held that attitudes towards science-based policy are dependent upon public understanding of science. In the field of scientific communication, the ability to change attitudes through education has appealed to policymakers because of its simplicity. Our study analysed the link between knowledge of climate change and the acceptability of two climate change mitigation pathways, and how this relationship was affected by perceiving climate change as a risk. These climate change mitigation pathways were made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to map proposed changes to current lifestyle and energy systems. They aim to mitigate the climate-related risks caused by global warming. Little research has been done on the attitudes towards policy that encompasses widespread changes to many aspects of modern life. To effectively mitigate the risks associated with climate change, these changes are necessary, and the attitudes held by the public towards them are important. We conducted a survey on several predictors of acceptability and found that climate change knowledge did have a significant relationship with acceptability of both pathways, as did risk perception. No evidence was found of the relationship between knowledge and acceptability being affected by how much people perceived climate change as a risk. This study contributes to the essential and ongoing research into what makes people willing to accept the changes to lifestyle and energy systems necessary to tackle the threat of climate change. Keywords: acceptability, climate change mitigation pathways, information deficit model, knowledge
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Goersch, R. and Adams, S.P. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Aug 2022 06:51 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Aug 2022 06:51 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1213 |
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