Open AccessBuilding Consensus for Ambitious Climate Action Through the World Climate Simulation
Author(s) -
RooneyVarga Juliette N.,
Hensel Margaret,
McCarthy Carolyn,
McNeal Karen,
Norfles Nicole,
Rath Kenneth,
Schnell Audrey H.,
Sterman John D.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
earth's future
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.641
H-Index - 39
ISSN - 2328-4277
DOI - 10.1029/2021ef002283
Subject(s) - individualism , climate change , egalitarianism , multilevel model , social psychology , scientific consensus , survey data collection , political science , psychology , sociology , global warming , ecology , law , computer science , politics , mathematics , statistics , machine learning , biology
Sociopolitical values are an important driver of climate change beliefs, attitudes, and policy preferences. People with “individualist‐hierarchical” values favor individual freedom, competition, and clearly defined social hierarchies, while “communitarian‐egalitarians” value interdependence and equality across gender, age, heritage, and ethnicity. In the US, individualist‐hierarchs generally perceive less risk from climate change and express lower support for actions to mitigate it than communitarian‐egalitarians. Exposure to scientific information does little to change these views. Here, we ask if a widely used experiential simulation, World Climate, can help overcome these barriers. World Climate combines an engaging role‐play with an interactive computer model of the climate system. We examine pre‐ and post‐ World Climate survey responses from 2,080 participants in the US and use a general linear mixed model approach to analyze interactions among participants' sociopolitical values and gains in climate change knowledge, affect, and intent to take action. As expected, prior to the simulation, participants holding individualist‐hierarchical values had lower levels of climate change knowledge, felt less urgency, and expressed lower intent to act than those holding communitarian‐egalitarian values. However, individualist‐hierarchs made significantly larger gains across all constructs, particularly urgency, than communitarian‐egalitarians. Participants' sociopolitical values also shifted: those with individualistic‐hierarchical values before the simulation showed a substantial, statistically significant shift toward a communitarian‐egalitarian worldview. Simulation‐based experiences like World Climate may help reduce polarization and build consensus towards science‐based climate action.