Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
Radical climate protests shaped portrayals of moderate activists and reader attitudes in German news media
Lukas Mayrhofer1, Simon Fassnacht2, Markus Foramitti3
1Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
Radical climate protests have been theorized to shape perceptions of moderate climate groups, a dynamic known as the radical flank effect (RFE). We examine this phenomenon through a longitudinal analysis of German media discourse on climate protests. Using validated large language model prompts, we annotated stances and anger in 2376 news articles and 225,121 user comments covering the moderate activist group Fridays for Future (FFF) and the more radical Last Generation (LG). Short-term increases in LG protest coverage were associated with increased support for FFF in news articles and left-leaning outlets' user comments, but with decreased support in right-leaning comments. However, these patterns were not observed over longer time periods. Although anger expressed in the general coverage of climate protests impacted subsequent support for FFF, this effect was not specific to coverage of radical protests. These findings highlight the temporally bounded and ideologically contingent nature of RFEs in media discourse.
Related Concept Videos
Group Polarization
Radical Formation: Abstraction
Even though homolysis produces radicals, it is different from radical...
Radical Reactivity: Overview
Radical Formation: Overview
Radicals from spin-paired molecules:
Radicals can be obtained from spin-paired molecules either by homolysis or electron transfer. While two radicals are formed in the former, an electron is added in the latter, also known...
Radical Reactivity: Electrophilic Radicals
Radical Reactivity: Nucleophilic Radicals

