Department of Health, Behavior and Society Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
J Prev (2022). 2023 Aug;44(4):389-407. doi: 10.1007/s10935-022-00704-0. Epub 2022 Oct 20.
There is a tremendous gap between the proportion of the population expressing concern about climate change and those engaged in climate change activism. We examined barriers to climate change activism among respondents stating climate change was an important issue to them.
Participants in a national online longitudinal study reported on 12 reasons for lack of involvement in climate change actions. Five months later, engagement in six climate change actions was assessed. The primary analyses focused on the 319 respondents who, out of 592 respondents who participated in both surveys, reported that the issue of global warming was extremely or very important to them.
Participants showed a range of engagement in climate change activism behaviors: 29.8% donated money to an organization to reduce climate change, 32.3% signed a petition, 69.0% voted for candidates who support measures to reduce climate change, 11.9% wrote letters, e-mailed, or phoned government officials to urge them to take action, and 9.4% volunteered with organizations working to curb climate change. The median number of barriers was 5. The most frequent reasons for lack of involvement in climate change activism were other people are better at it (57.4%), hadn't been trained (56.7%), hadn't been asked (50.8%), not knowing how to get involved (49.8%), activities like letter writing not appealing (49.8%), too busy (38.9%), organizations would ask them for money (39.8%), and not encouraged to become involved (38.2%). Several barriers were associated with engagement in climate change activism five months later. The most consistent association with activism was with talking about climate change in the prior month.
Most respondents cited several barriers that impeded their involvement in climate change activism. Select barriers were associated with reduced engagement in activism. Organizations that address climate change should acknowledge barriers but emphasize that individuals can engage in climate change activism regardless of barriers.
对气候变化表示关注的人群与参与气候变化行动的人群之间存在巨大差距。我们研究了那些认为气候变化是一个重要问题但却没有参与相关行动的人群中存在的阻碍因素。
在一项全国性的在线纵向研究中，参与者报告了他们没有参与气候变化行动的 12 个原因。五个月后，评估了他们参与六项气候变化行动的情况。主要分析集中在 319 名受访者身上，在 592 名参加了两次调查的受访者中，这些受访者报告称全球变暖问题对他们来说极其重要或非常重要。
参与者表现出了参与气候变化行动的一系列行为：29.8%的人向一个组织捐款以减少气候变化，32.3%的人签署了请愿书，69.0%的人投票给支持采取措施减少气候变化的候选人，11.9%的人写信、发电邮或打电话给政府官员敦促他们采取行动，9.4%的人自愿与组织合作以遏制气候变化。中位数为 5 个障碍。缺乏参与气候变化行动的最常见原因是其他人更擅长（57.4%）、没有受过培训（56.7%）、没有被邀请（50.8%）、不知道如何参与（49.8%）、写信等活动没有吸引力（49.8%）、太忙（38.9%）、组织会向他们要钱（39.8%）、没有被鼓励参与（38.2%）。几个障碍与五个月后参与气候变化行动有关。与参与活动最一致的关联是在前一个月谈论过气候变化。
大多数受访者列举了一些阻碍他们参与气候变化行动的障碍。一些障碍与减少参与行动有关。应对气候变化的组织应该认识到这些障碍，但应强调，无论存在障碍与否，个人都可以参与气候变化行动。
