Journal
RISK ANALYSIS
Volume 32, Issue 6, Pages 1021-1032Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01801.x
Keywords
Affective image associations; global warming; skepticism
Categories
Funding
- 11th Hour Project
- Pacific Foundation
- Surdna Foundation
- Jesse and Betsy Fink Foundation
- Yale Center for Environmental Law Policy
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This article explores how affective image associations to global warming have changed over time. Four nationally representative surveys of the American public were conducted between 2002 and 2010 to assess public global warming risk perceptions, policy preferences, and behavior. Affective images (positive or negative feelings and cognitive representations) were collected and content analyzed. The results demonstrate a large increase in naysayer associations, indicating extreme skepticism about the issue of climate change. Multiple regression analyses found that holistic affect and naysayer associations were more significant predictors of global warming risk perceptions than cultural worldviews or sociodemographic variables, including political party and ideology. The results demonstrate the important role affective imagery plays in judgment and decision-making processes, how these variables change over time, and how global warming is currently perceived by the American public.
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