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Published on: September 28, 2018
Psychological inoculation against climate doom
Rachel O'Boyle1, Tyler Shores2, Sander van der Linden1
1Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
Summary
Psychological inoculation helps people recognize climate doom messaging on social media. This technique improves critical engagement with extreme climate change content, reducing harmful effects.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Climate Communication
- Social Media Studies
Background:
- Social media users encounter "climate doom" content, which presents extreme portrayals of climate change.
- While intended to motivate action, climate doom messaging may evoke hopelessness or be perceived as manipulative.
- Previous research has not explored psychological inoculation's effect on recognizing or engaging with climate doom online.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if psychological inoculation enhances the ability to discern climate doom on social media.
- To determine how inoculation influences user engagement with climate doom content.
- To assess the impact of inoculation across different political leanings.
Main Methods:
- A preregistered study with 521 participants utilized a social media simulator to collect behavioral data.
- Participants were exposed to climate doom messaging, with some receiving psychological inoculation.
- Discernment of climate doom and engagement behaviors (liking, flagging, sharing) were measured.
Main Results:
- Inoculation significantly improved the discernment of climate doom, primarily by increasing perceptions of message manipulation (d = 0.68).
- Inoculation led to increased engagement, specifically through disliking and flagging doom content, and decreased content sharing.
- No interaction was found between inoculation condition and political leaning; inoculation did not moderate the relationship between perceived manipulation and behavioral intentions.
Conclusions:
- Climate communicators should reconsider using "doom" messaging as a primary strategy for mobilizing action due to potential negative psychological impacts.
- Psychological inoculation proves effective in enhancing recognition of and critical engagement with climate doom content.
- Inoculation's benefits in identifying and critically engaging with climate doom are applicable across the political spectrum.
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