Messages from co-partisan elected officials can increase climate mitigation intentions without changing climate beliefs
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Increasing belief in climate change is often considered a prerequisite to motivating climate action. However, partisan polarization has crystallized climate beliefs, and the narrowing window for climate mitigation demands urgent behavior change. This study investigates whether messages from co-partisan elected officials can directly boost intentions to adopt climate-friendly behaviors without changing underlying beliefs about climate change. In two preregistered survey experiments—one on solar panels (n = 9298) and one on electric vehicles (n = 9903)—I find that co-partisan elite messages can increase climate-mitigation intentions among self-reported Republicans and Democrats alike, even though such messages do not affect climate beliefs. Furthermore, I find that messages centering climate change are just as persuasive for Republicans as non-climate framings, challenging previous work showing that climate change rhetoric triggers a “backfire effect” reducing Republicans’ mitigation behaviors. Finally, I test the theory of “credibility-enhancing displays” and find limited evidence that partisan elites are more effective at motivating mitigation intentions when they themselves engage in those behaviors. Climate belief change is often viewed as key to climate action. Here, the author shows that messages from co-partisan officials can increase climate mitigation intentions among both Republicans and Democrats, even without changing their climate beliefs.
Source: Nature Communications
Author: Victor Y. Wu
Institution: Stanford University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
OpenAlex ID: W4415808233