Communicating climate change : how proximising climate change and global identity predict engagement

The majority of scientists express an urgent need to limit climate change in order to ensure sustainable development, but our societies are not reacting decisively enough to achieve this goal. My research aims to understand how news about climate change can be communicated to convey scientific knowledge and support climate protection. Proximising climate change by focussing on local instead of global or remote consequences has been recommended as a promising communication strategy. The reasoning is that many people seem to perceive climate change as a phenomenon that affects mainly other people in far-off places (i.e., psychological socio-spatial distance). Proximising might bring climate change closer. However, the recommendation still lacked convincing empirical evidence. Thus, my research investigated the communication of proximity vs. distance in news coverage. Specifically, I examined the process assumed to be behind proximising effects, namely a reduction of the psychological socio-spatial distance of climate change, which might increase issue relevance and in turn promote climate protective behaviour and climate change knowledge. In Study 1 (N = 498), people were asked to what extent the news communicated climate change as something affecting mainly other people in distant locations. The more they perceived news communication as socio-spatially distant, the higher their psychological socio-spatial distance of climate change and the lower relevance they attributed to the issue. Perceived communicated socio-spatial distance was indirectly and negatively related with climate protective behavioural knowledge through higher psychological socio-spatial distance. Study 2 (N = 99) found no evidence that communicating socio-spatial proximity vs. distance of climate change in a news text influences psychological socio-spatial distance, relevance attributed to the news text, climate protective behaviour, and climate change knowledge. However, the test power was not sufficient to detect small effect sizes. In Study 3 (N = 508), proximising climate change in a news text decreased the psychological socio-spatial distance of climate change and indirectly and positively predicted climate protective behaviour as well as climate change knowledge through lower psychological socio-spatial distance and higher relevance attribution. While the indirect relations were small, stronger relations might arise if people repeatedly receive local information. I thus suggest that it is worthwhile to complement news about global climate change with reports about regional impacts. As a second objective, I aimed to illuminate whether the concept of a global identity helps to explain why proximising might not always be necessary or useful. I assumed that the more people identify with people all over the world, the more relevant they evaluate climate change to be and the more they are motivated to take climate protective action and acquire climate change knowledge. Moreover, I supposed that people with a strong global identity might evaluate climate change as relevant regardless of whether they perceive that the consequences mainly affect other people in distant places. In other words, a global identity might bridge the psychological socio-spatial distance of climate change. In Study 1, global identity positively predicted the relevance attributed to climate change and climate protective behaviour, as well as climate change knowledge indirectly through relevance attribution. In Study 2, the global identity dimension of self-investment positively predicted climate protective behaviour. However, global identity did not bridge the psychological socio-spatial distance of climate change in either study. I further reasoned that the negative relation between psychological socio-spatial distance and relevance attribution might be weaker if global identity is made salient. In other words, a salient global identity might bridge the psychological socio-spatial distance of climate change. In Study 3, before reading the news text, participants watched either a control video or a video showing a man dancing with people all over the world, which communicated a feeling of connectedness. While participants who received the control video evaluated the news text as less relevant as their psychological socio-spatial distance of climate change increased, there was no such relation among participants who received the connectedness video. Moreover, communicated proximity vs. distance in the news text did not indirectly predict climate protective behaviour and climate change knowledge in the latter group. This suggests that communicating connectedness might be a way to bridge the distance of climate change communication and render issues that are perceived as affecting mainly other people in far-off locations more relevant to recipients.Die Mehrheit der WissenschaftlerInnen formuliert einen dringenden Bedarf den Klimawandel zu begrenzen, um eine nachhaltige Entwicklung zu ermöglichen. Doch unsere Gesellschaften reagieren nicht entschieden genug, um dieses Ziel zu erreichen. Diese Arbeit geht der Frage nach, wie Nachrichten über den Klimawandel Wissen vermitteln und Klimaschutz motivieren können. Das Heranholen des Klimawandels durch einen Fokus auf lokale statt auf globale oder ferne Konsequenzen wurde als vielversprechende Kommunikationsstrategie empfohlen. Es wird argumentiert, dass viele Menschen den Klimawandel als Phänomen wahrnehmen, das hauptsächlich andere Menschen an fernen Orten betrifft (d. h. psychologische sozial-räumliche Distanz). Das Heranholen könnte ihnen den Klimawandel näherbringen. Jedoch mangelte es bislang an überzeugender empirischer Evidenz für diese Empfehlung. Meine Forschung untersuchte die Kommunikation von Nähe vs. Distanz in Nachrichten; im Speziellen den angenommenen Prozess des Heranholens, nämlich eine Reduktion der psychologischen sozial-räumlichen Distanz des Klimawandels, welche wiederum die Relevanz des Themas erhöhen und dadurch klimaschützendes Verhalten und Klimawissen fördern könnte. In Studie 1 (N = 498) wurden die Teilnehmenden gefragt, inwieweit die Nachrichten den Klimawandel als Phänomen kommunizieren, das vor allem andere Menschen an fernen Orten betrifft. Je mehr sie die Kommunikation der Nachrichten als sozial-räumlich fern erlebten, desto höher war ihre psychologische sozial-räumliche Distanz des Klimawandels und desto weniger relevant beurteilten sie das Thema. Eine höhere wahrgenommene kommunizierte sozial-räumliche Distanz hing indirekt über eine höhere psychologische sozial-räumliche Distanz mit weniger klimaschützendem Verhaltenswissen zusammen. In Studie 2 (N = 99) beeinflusste die Kommunikation sozial-räumlicher Nähe vs. Distanz in einem Nachrichtentext die psychologische sozial-räumliche Distanz, die Relevanz des Textes, klimaschützendes Verhalten und Klimawissen nicht. Allerdings reichte die Teststärke nicht aus, um mögliche kleine Effektgrößen aufzudecken. In Studie 3 (N = 508) verringerte das Heranholen des Klimawandels in einem Nachrichtentext die psychologische sozial-räumliche Distanz und prädizierte indirekt über diese reduzierte Distanz und eine höhere Relevanz der Nachricht, mehr klimaschützendes Verhalten und Klimawissen. Diese indirekten Zusammenhänge waren sehr klein. Größere Zusammenhänge könnten jedoch entstehen, wenn Personen wiederholt lokale Informationen rezipieren. Ich schlage daher vor, dass es sich lohnt Nachrichten über den globalen Klimawandel mit Berichten über regionale Auswirkungen zu ergänzen. Zweites Ziel war es zu untersuchen, ob das Konzept einer globalen Identität erklären kann, warum das Heranholen des Klimawandels nicht immer notwendig oder nützlich ist. Ich nahm an, dass Personen, die sich stärker mit Menschen auf der ganzen Welt identifizieren, das Thema Klimawandel relevanter beurteilen und motivierter sind sich für Klimaschutz zu engagieren und Klimawissen zu erwerben. Außerdem ging ich davon aus, dass Personen mit einer starken globalen Identität den Klimawandel unabhängig davon als relevant ansehen, ob die Auswirkungen vor allem andere Menschen an fernen Orten betreffen. Eine globale Identität könnte also die psychologische sozial-räumliche Distanz des Klimawandels überbrücken. In Studie 1 sagte eine globale Identität die Relevanz des Klimawandels und klimaschützendes Verhalten sowie indirekt über eine höhere Relevanz Klimawissen vorher. In Studie 2 prädizierte globales Selbst-Investment, eine Subdimension der globalen Identität, klimaschützendes Verhalten. Jedoch überbrückte eine globale Identität die psychologische sozial-räumliche Distanz des Klimawandels in keiner der beiden Studien. Ich ging zudem davon aus, dass der negative Zusammenhang zwischen psychologischer sozial-räumlicher Distanz und Relevanz geringer sein könnte, wenn eine globale Identität salient gemacht wird. Eine saliente globale Identität könnte also die psychologische sozial-räumliche Distanz überbrücken. In Studie 3 sahen die Teilnehmenden vor der Rezeption der Nachricht entweder ein Kontrollvideo oder ein Video, in dem ein Mann mit Menschen auf der ganzen Welt tanzt. Dieses Video kommunizierte Verbundenheit. In der Kontrollbedingung beurteilten Personen mit höherer psychologischer sozial-räumlicher Distanz des Klimawandels die Nachricht als weniger relevant. Für Personen, die das Verbundenheitsvideo gesehen hatten, ergab sich dieser Zusammenhang hingegen nicht. Außerdem sagte die kommunizierte Nähe vs. Distanz der Nachricht in dieser Gruppe nicht indirekt klimaschützendes Verhalten und Klimawissen vorher. Dieser Befund lässt darauf schließen, dass die Kommunikation von Verbundenheit eine Möglichkeit sein könnte, Distanz in der Klimawandelkommunikation zu überbrücken und Auswirkungen für Rezipierende relevanter zu machen, die andere Menschen an fernen Orten betreffen

Jigsaw Puzzling Taps Multiple Cognitive Abilities and Is a Potential Protective Factor for Cognitive Aging

Prevention of neurocognitive disorders is currently one of the greatest unmet medical challenges. The cognitive effects of solving jigsaw puzzles (JPs) have not been studied so far, despite its frequent use as a leisure activity in all age cohorts worldwide. This study aimed at closing this gap between a lack of science and a frequent real-world use by investigating the cognitive abilities recruited by JP as well as the cognitive benefits of lifetime and 30-day JP experience. A total of 100 cognitively healthy adults (≥50 years of age) were randomized to either a 30-day home-based JP intervention (≥1 h/day) plus four sessions of cognitive health counseling (JP group) or four sessions of cognitive health counseling only (counseling group). We measured global visuospatial cognition by averaging the scores of eight z-standardized visuospatial cognitive abilities (perception, constructional praxis, mental rotation, speed, flexibility, working memory, reasoning, and episodic memory). JP skill was assessed with an untrained 40 piece JP and lifetime JP experience with retrospective self-report. JP skill was associated with all assessed cognitive abilities (rs ≥ 0.45, ps < 0.001), and global visuospatial cognition (r = 0.80 [95% CI: 0.72–0.86], p < 0.001). Lifetime JP experience was associated with global visuospatial cognition, even after accounting for other risk and protective factors (β = 0.34 [95% CI: 0.18–0.50], p < 0.001). The JP group connected on average 3589 pieces in 49 h. Compared to the counseling group, they improved in JP skill (Cohen’s d = 0.38 [95% CI: 0.21–0.54], p < 0.001), but not in global visuospatial cognition (Cohen’s d = -0.08, [CI: -0.27 to 0.10], p = 0.39). The amount of jigsaw puzzling was related to changes in global visuospatial cognition within the JP group, only after accounting for baseline performance (β = 0.33 [95% CI: 0.02–0.63], p = 0.03). In sum, our results indicate that jigsaw puzzling strongly engages multiple cognitive abilities and long-term, but not short-term JP experiences could relevantly benefit cognition.Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.govIdentifier: NCT0266731

Cross-cutting principles for planetary health education

Since the 2015 launch of the Rockefeller Foundation Lancet Commission on planetary health,1 an enormous groundswell of interest in planetary health education has emerged across many disciplines, institutions, and geographical regions. Advancing these global efforts in planetary health education will equip the next generation of scholars to address crucial questions in this emerging field and support the development of a community of practice. To provide a foundation for the growing interest and efforts in this field, the Planetary Health Alliance has facilitated the first attempt to create a set of principles for planetary health education that intersect education at all levels, across all scales, and in all regions of the world—ie, a set of cross-cutting principles

Navigating through the jungle of information. Informational self-efficacy predicts climate change-related media exposure, knowledge, and behaviour

Climate change is a complex issue and understanding it is not an easy endeavour. An abundance of information is available through media and a lot of research has dealt with the question of how to best communicate this issue to the public. However, uncertainty and scepticism remain. In this paper, we argue that the subjective capability of informing oneself satisfactorily about climate change (i.e. informational self-efficacy) to reach goals like forming an opinion, evaluating political decisions regarding climate change, or behaving in a climate protective manner might be a crucial determinant of people’s engagement with the issue. In an online survey with a quota sample of German residents (N = 498), informational self-efficacy positively predicted people’s exposure to climate change communication in the media, their knowledge about the climate system and climate protective behaviours, and the extent to which they actually engaged in climate protective actions. Moreover, informational self-efficacy positively predicted climate protective behaviour and climate system knowledge indirectly through media exposure—but not behavioural knowledge. Hence, next to optimising the provided climate change communication, we suggest to strengthen people’s confidence in dealing with it through media literacy trainings and examine the causal effect of these trainings on informational self-efficacy and climate change engagement. Furthermore, the impact of different behaviours on climate change should be more often and more concretely discussed in media coverage

Anxiety and climate change: a validation of the Climate Anxiety Scale in a German-speaking quota sample and an investigation of psychological correlates

The climate crisis is an unprecedented existential threat that causes disturbing emotions, such as anxiety. Recently, Clayton and Karazsia measured climate anxiety as “a more clinically significant ‘anxious’ response to climate change” (2020, p. 9). To gain a more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon from an empirical psychological perspective, we translated the core of the Climate Anxiety Scale into German and assessed potential correlates in a large German-speaking quota sample (N = 1011, stratified by age and gender). Overall, people reported low levels of climate anxiety. Climate anxiety correlated positively with general anxiety and depressiveness, avoidance of climate change in everyday life, frustration of basic psychological needs, pro-environmental behavioral intentions, and policy support. It correlated negatively with different forms of climate denial and was unrelated to ideological beliefs. We were not able to replicate the two dimensions found in the original scale. Moreover, we argue that items appear to measure a general climate-related emotional impairment, rather than distinctly and comprehensively capturing climate anxiety. Thus, we encourage researchers to rework the scale and include an emotional factor in future research efforts

Supporting Sustainable Food Consumption: Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) Aligns Intentions and Behavior

With growing awareness that sustainable consumption is important for quality of life on earth, many individuals intend to act more sustainably. In this regard, interest in reducing meat consumption is on the rise. However, people often do not translate intentions into actual behavior change. To address this intention-behavior gap, we tested the self-regulation strategy of Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII). Here, people identify and imagine a desired future and current obstacles standing in its way. They address the obstacles with if-then plans specifying when, where, and how to act differently. In a five-week randomized controlled experimental study, we compared an information + MCII intervention with an information-only control intervention. As hypothesized, only MCII participants’ intention of reducing their meat consumption was predictive of their actual reduction, while no correspondence between intention and behavior change was found for control participants. Participants with a moderate to strong intention to reduce their meat consumption reduced it more in the MCII than in the control condition. Thus, MCII helped to narrow the intention-behavior gap and supported behavior change for those holding moderate and strong respective intentions

PS Curating the Digital in Everyday Life - A Workshop Report

Das Studienprojekt ›Curating the Digital in Everyday Life‹ des Instituts für Europäische Ethnologie der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin beschäftigte sich in einer einjährigen Forschung mit den Verflechtungen von Menschen, Medien und Alltag. Den Rahmen und Ausgangspunkt der einzelnen Fallstudien bildete die Annahme, dass neue digitale Praktiken unseren Alltag tiefgreifend verändern und Alltagsakteur*innen im Umgang mit der digitalen Fülle an Artefakten eigenständige Praktiken des Kuratierens entwickeln und umsetzen. Sie wählen Objekte aus, ordnen und stellen zusammen, um die Welt auf eine bestimmte Art und Weise darzustellen, Geschichten zu erzählen, Wert zu generieren oder Normen in Frage zu stellen. Auch Algorithmen und Infrastrukturen sind an diesen Prozessen aktiv beteiligt, denn die verschiedenen ›Ausstellungsräume‹ im Internet entstehen erst im Umgang mit den spezifischen Affordanzen der Plattformen.The student research project ›Curating the Digital in Everyday Life‹ by the Institute for European Ethnology at the Humboldt-University of Berlin dealt with the entanglements between people, media and everyday life. The framework and starting point of the individual case studies is based on the assumption that new digital practices profoundly change our everyday life and everyday actors develop and implement independent curating practices in dealing with the digital wealth of artifacts. They select objects, arrange and put them together to present the world in a certain way, to tell stories, to generate value or to question norms. Algorithms and infrastructures are also actively involved in these processes. These various online ›exhibition spaces‹ only arise when dealing with the platform's specific affordances. &nbsp

Curating the Digital in Everyday Life - Ein Werkstattbericht

Das Studienprojekt "Curating the Digital in Everyday Life" des Instituts für Europäische Ethnologie der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin beschäftigte sich in einer einjährigen Forschung mit den Verflechtungen von Menschen, Medien und Alltag. Den Rahmen und Ausgangspunkt der einzelnen Fallstudien bildete die Annahme, dass neue digitale Praktiken unseren Alltag tiefgreifend verändern und Alltagsakteur*innen im Umgang mit der digitalen Fülle an Artefakten eigenständige Praktiken des Kuratierens entwickeln und umsetzen. Sie wählen Objekte aus, ordnen und stellen zusammen, um die Welt auf eine bestimmte Art und Weise darzustellen, Geschichten zu erzählen, Wert zu generieren oder Normen in Frage zu stellen. Auch Algorithmen und Infrastrukturen sind an diesen Prozessen aktiv beteiligt, denn die verschiedenen "Ausstellungsräume" im Internet entstehen erst im Umgang mit den spezifischen Affordanzen der Plattformen.The student research project "Curating the Digital in Everyday Life" by the Institute for European Ethnology at the Humboldt-University of Berlin dealt with the entanglements between people, media and everyday life. The framework and starting point of the individual case studies is based on the assumption that new digital practices profoundly change our everyday life and everyday actors develop and implement independent curating practices in dealing with the digital wealth of artifacts. They select objects, arrange and put them together to present the world in a certain way, to tell stories, to generate value or to question norms. Algorithms and infrastructures are also actively involved in these processes. These various online "exhibition spaces" only arise when dealing with the platform's specific affordances