How weather experiences strengthen climate opinions in Europe

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

Previous research has shown that we believe more in the reality of climate change when we experience warmer-than-usual temperatures. This reflects a psychological process in which easily accessible information from personal weather experiences is used as a heuristic to form climate opinions. This paper replicates and extends upon a research design and results of Egan and Mullin to provide the first systematic European study of the Local Warming Effect. Based on data from 12 European countries, the analysis shows that when objective temperatures increase by two standard deviations (5 C) relative to normal temperatures, climate opinions are strengthened by around 0.5–1.0 percentage points – comparable to the effect of a full step to the left on a 0–10 political ideology scale.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftWest European Politics
Vol/bind44
Udgave nummer7
Sider (fra-til)1604-1618
Antal sider15
ISSN0140-2382
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2021

ID: 248202502