Department of Psychology, New York University, New York City, NY 10003.
Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Sep 17;121(38):e2405973121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2405973121. Epub 2024 Sep 9.
Despite growing scientific alarm about anthropogenic climate change, the world is not on track to solve the crisis. Inaction may be partially explained by skepticism about climate change and resistance to proenvironmental policies from people who are motivated to maintain the status quo (i.e., conservative-rightists). Therefore, practical interventions are needed. In the present research program, we tested an experimental manipulation derived from system justification theory in which proenvironmental initiatives were framed as patriotic and necessary to maintain the American "way of life." In a large, nationally representative U.S. sample, we found that the system-sanctioned change intervention successfully increased liberal-leftists' as well as conservative-rightists' belief in climate change; support for proenvironmental policies; and willingness to share climate information on social media. Similar messages were effective in an aggregated analysis involving 63 countries, although the overall effect sizes were small. More granular exploratory analyses at the country level revealed that while the intervention was moderately successful in some countries (e.g., Brazil, France, Israel), it backfired in others (Germany, Belgium, Russia). Across the three outcome variables, the effects of the intervention were consistent and pronounced in the United States, in support of the hypothesis that system justification motivation can be harnessed on behalf of social change. Potential explanations for divergent country-level effects are discussed. The system-sanctioned change intervention holds considerable promise for policymakers and communicators seeking to increase climate awareness and action.
尽管人们对人为气候变化的科学警报不断增加，但世界并没有走上解决这场危机的轨道。不采取行动的部分原因可能是对气候变化的怀疑，以及那些出于维持现状（即保守右派）动机的人对环保政策的抵制。因此，需要采取实际的干预措施。在本研究计划中，我们测试了一种源自系统正当化理论的实验操作，即把环保倡议框定为爱国的、维护美国“生活方式”所必需的。在一个具有全国代表性的大型美国样本中，我们发现，这种受系统认可的变革干预措施成功地增加了自由左派和保守右派对气候变化的信仰；对环保政策的支持；以及在社交媒体上分享气候变化信息的意愿。在涉及 63 个国家的聚合分析中，类似的信息同样有效，尽管总体效果大小较小。在国家层面更细致的探索性分析表明，虽然该干预措施在一些国家（如巴西、法国、以色列）取得了一定的成功，但在其他国家（如德国、比利时、俄罗斯）却适得其反。在这三个结果变量中，干预措施在美国的效果是一致的、显著的，支持了这样一种假设，即可以利用系统正当化动机来推动社会变革。对不同国家层面效果的潜在解释进行了讨论。这种受系统认可的变革干预措施为寻求提高气候意识和行动的政策制定者和传播者提供了很大的希望。
