ItemArticle

What We Think Others Think and Do About Climate Change: A Multicountry Test of Pluralistic Ignorance and Public-Consensus Messaging

Title
What We Think Others Think and Do About Climate Change: A Multicountry Test of Pluralistic Ignorance and Public-Consensus Messaging
Creator
Geiger, Sandra J.; Kler, Jana K.; Delabrida, Zenith N. C.; Gardu-Realivazquez, Karla A.; Haugestad, Christian A. P.; Imada, Hirotaka; Iyer, Aishwarya; Maharja, Carya; Mann, Daniel C.; Marczak, Michalina; Melville, Olivia; Nijssen, Sari R. R.; Powdthavee, Nattavudh; Praptiwi, Radisti A.; Ranade, Gargi; Rosa, Claudio D.; Vitale, Valeria; Winkowska, Ma?gorzata; Zhang, Lei; White, Mathew P.
Description
Most people believe in human-caused climate change, yet this public consensus can be collectively underestimated (pluralistic ignorance). Across two studies using primary data (n = 3,653 adult participants; 11 countries) and secondary data (ns = 60,230 and 22,496 adult participants; 55 countries), we tested (a) the generalizability of pluralistic ignorance about climate-change beliefs, (b) the effects of a public-consensus intervention on climate action, and (c) the possibility that cultural tightness-looseness might serve as a country-level predictor of pluralistic ignorance. In Study 1, people across 11 countries underestimated the prevalence of proclimate views by at least 7.5% in Indonesia (90% credible interval, or CrI = [5.0, 10.1]), and up to 20.8% in Brazil (90% CrI = [18.2, 23.4]. Providing information about the actual public consensus on climate change was largely ineffective, except for a slight increase in willingness to express ones proclimate opinion, ? = 0.05 (90% CrI = [?0.02, 0.11]). In Study 2, pluralistic ignorance about willingness to contribute financially to fight climate change was slightly more pronounced in looser than tighter cultures, highlighting the particular need for pluralistic-ignorance research in these countries. The Author(s) 2025.
Source
Psychological Science;Volume;36;Issue;6;pp.421-442
Date
01-01-2025
Publisher
SAGE Publications Inc.
Subject
climate change; cross-country generalizability; cultural tightness-looseness; pluralistic ignorance; social norm
Coverage
Geiger S.J., Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, United States; Kler J.K., Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria; Delabrida Z.N.C., Department of Psychology, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil; Gardu-Realivazquez K.A., Department of Accounting, University of Sonora, Mexico; Haugestad C.A.P., Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway; Imada H., Research Institute for Future Design, Kochi University of Technology, Japan; Iyer A., Department of Psychology, Christ University, India; Maharja C., Yayasan Puspa Hanuman Indonesia, Indonesia, School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom; Mann D.C., Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria; Marczak M., School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; Melville O., Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Canada; Nijssen S.R.R., Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria; Powdthavee N., Department of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Praptiwi R.A., Research Center for Ecology and Ethnobiology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia; Ranade G., The Shallow End Collective, Bangalore, India; Rosa C.D., Development and Environment, State University of Santa Cruz, Brazil, Department of Physical Education, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Northern Minas Gerais (IFNMG), Brazil; Vitale V., Department of Psychology of Developmental and Socialization Processes, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Winkowska M., Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, UmeUniversity, Sweden; Zhang L., Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Institute for Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Center for Developmental Science, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria; White M.P., Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Austria, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
Rights
All Open Access; Green Open Access; Hybrid Gold Open Access
Relation
ISSN: 9567976; CODEN: PSYSE
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Article

Citation

Geiger, Sandra J.; Kler, Jana K.; Delabrida, Zenith N. C.; Gardu-Realivazquez, Karla A.; Haugestad, Christian A. P.; Imada, Hirotaka; Iyer, Aishwarya; Maharja, Carya; Mann, Daniel C.; Marczak, Michalina; Melville, Olivia; Nijssen, Sari R. R.; Powdthavee, Nattavudh; Praptiwi, Radisti A.; Ranade, Gargi; Rosa, Claudio D.; Vitale, Valeria; Winkowska, Ma?gorzata; Zhang, Lei; White, Mathew P., “What We Think Others Think and Do About Climate Change: A Multicountry Test of Pluralistic Ignorance and Public-Consensus Messaging,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 17, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/23121.

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