Would You Think We Are Doomed Because of Climate Change? Risk Perception, Taking Action and Trusting Others in the Face of Different Climate Change Scenarios

Sammanfattning: Members of the general public assess risks of climate change differently than experts. Increasing the perceived risk through communication of climate change has been debated as a viable strategy to promote more sustainable behavior. This thesis exposes 412 subjects to four different messages regarding varying the likelihood and severity of averse consequences of global warming. Analysis of a two-factorial between-subjects experiment indicates no adjustment in perceived risk as the result of treatment conditions. Perceived risk is, however, found to be a stable and important factor in explaining observed pro-climate behavior. The study also tests the influence of general interpersonal trust on collaboration in climate change mitigation efforts. Unlike perceived risk, this factor may only affect action of people with lower knowledge of climate change.