Political Psychology and the Climate Crisis

The current chapter examines factors predicting engagement and disengagement with climate change. After providing a baseline overview of climate change and public opinion on the topic, we explore how psychological motives might conflict with individuals’ desire to be accurate when considering climate change information. Next, we examine how individual differences in world views affect how individuals relate to climate change, focusing specifically on moral attitudes, social dominance orientation (SDO), neoliberal ideology, and attitudes towards system change as correlates of climate beliefs and engagement. Finally, we consider how social cues from both elites (such as politicians and scientists) and peers can serve as critical sources of information guiding individuals’ beliefs about and responses to climate change.