The Role of Affect in Climate Communication Jeffrey T. Kiehl Climate Change Research Section National Center for Atmospheric Research NCAR is sponsored by the National Science Foundation on Faculty Fellowship Leave to UC Santa Cruz (1/12-1/13)
Outline Public Concern Over Global Warming Requires More Than: Just the Facts Ma’am Psychological Barriers & Climate Communication Including Affect in Communication: A Personal Experiment Summary
Public Concern Over Global Warming
Observations Theory Models Public Awareness Behavior Traditional Information Deficit Model
“affect... has rarely been recognized as an important component in human judgment and decision making. Perhaps befitting its rationalistic origins, the main focus of descriptive decision research has been cognitive, rather than affective” Slovic et al. (2002) Affect “... affective reactions to stimuli are often the very first reactions, occurring automatically and subsequently guiding information processing and judgment.” Slovic et al. (2005)
Transformation in Ways We Communicate Basic Understanding of Science Vested Interests (Oreskes & Conway, 2011) Social, Economic & Cultural Dimensions Psychological Dimensions Barriers to Communicating Climate Change
Perceived Loss* Affect & Defense Mechanisms* Typological Differences Sense of Self, Identity & Consumerism Relatedness to Environment Psychological Dimensions
Challenge to Religious Beliefs.. Loss of Faith Fear of Government Control..... Loss of Freedom Threat to the Economy Loss of Safety Threat to Fossil Fuel Industry.... Loss of Wealth Perceived Loss as a Barrier to Communication
Beliefs Information Behavior Social Norms Values {Science, Education, Media,...} {Religious systems, Family systems, Personality structure} {Social Constructs, Political Systems, Economic Systems} Affect & Values
Affective Reactions to News of Global Warming Fear Guilt Defiance Helplessness Anger Numbness Powerless All are Signatures of Trauma
Denial Projection Rationalization Regression Distortion Withdrawal Dissociation Splitting Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious Conscious Social Emotions, Affect, Associative Processing Cognitive, Analytic, Logical Values, Beliefs, Laws Three processes that influence our way of relating to the outer world
Part IPart IIPart III Scientific Narrative How Do You Feel? Explore Solutions Including Affect in Communication A Three Stage Process
Observations Theory Models Public Awareness Behavior Narratives Value Systems Images Metaphors Framing
Rhetoric “The three means of effective persuasion... 1) to reason logically 2) to understand human character and goodness in their various forms 3) to understand emotions” The Rhetoric Aristotle ( BC)