The political polarization of climate change

The aim of this project is to explore the political polarization of climate change. Considering the catastrohic prospects of the changing climate, there is a pressing need to understand what influences people’s opinions toward climate change. This is particularly relevant in the Swedish context given that there is a widening gap between political groups in Sweden on climate issues, and we therefore focus on this case.

We focus on affective polarization, which refers to when individuals develop strong emotional attachments to their own political group and dislike and bias toward “outgroups”. These biases could make people less willing to listen to knowledge-based arguments and to engage in sustainable behaviours if they are associated with “the other side”. This would impede climate change mitigation. Thus, understanding the association between polarization and climate change opinions and finding ways to increase individuals’ willingness to engage in sustainable behaviours, is paramount. Considering that political representatives’ rhetoric likely influence polarization and willingness to engage in sustainable behaviours, we focus specifically on their role.

The project is divided into three parts, asking three questions:

1)    What is the relationship between affective polarization and climate change opinions among citizens?

2)    Do political representatives use polarizing rhetoric when speaking about climate change?

3)    How does political representatives’ rhetoric influence citizens’ attitudes and intentions to engage in sustainable behaviours?

 With extensive experience in political and environmental psychology, the research group is excellently equipped to achieve the project's aims. By working inter-disciplinarily and multi-methodologically, combining surveys with voters, experimental techniques, and text analyses of politicians’ rhetoric in debates, the project will increase our understanding of the identity-related processes obstructing climate change mitigation.

 
Who is working on this project?