Loading...
The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks
Kahan, Dan M. Peters, Ellen Wittlin, Maggie Slovic, Paul Ouellette, Lisa Larrimore Braman, Donald Mandel, Gregory N.
Kahan, Dan M.
Peters, Ellen
Wittlin, Maggie
Slovic, Paul
Ouellette, Lisa Larrimore
Braman, Donald
Mandel, Gregory N.
Citations
Altmetric:
Genre
Post-print
Date
2012-05-27
Advisor
Committee member
Group
Department
Permanent link to this record
Collections
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1547
Abstract
Seeming public apathy over climate change is often attributed to a deficit in comprehension. The public knows too little science, it is claimed, to understand the evidence or avoid being misled1. Widespread limits on technical reasoning aggravate the problem by forcing citizens to use unreliable cognitive heuristics to assess risk2. We conducted a study to test this account and found no support for it. Members of the public with the highest degrees of science literacy and technical reasoning capacity were not the most concerned about climate change. Rather, they were the ones among whom cultural polarization was greatest. This result suggests that public divisions over climate change stem not from the public’s incomprehension of science but from a distinctive conflict of interest: between the personal interest individuals have in forming beliefs in line with those held by others with whom they share close ties and the collective one they all share in making use of the best available science to promote common welfare.
Description
Citation
Donald Braman et. at., The Polarizing Impact of Science Literacy and Numeracy on Perceived Climate Change Risks, 2 Nature Climate Change 732 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1547
Citation to related work
Nature Publishing
Has part
Nature Climate Change, Vol. 2
ADA compliance
For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.edu