The Impact of Place and Legacy Framing on Climate Action: A Lifespan Approach

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2020 Feb 26

PMID 32097411

Citations 10

Authors

Robert H Wickersham

Lisa Zaval

Nancy A Pachana

Michael A Smyer

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Despite several decades of research on more effectively communicating climate change to the general public, there is only limited knowledge about how older adults engage with an issue that will shape and define future generations. We focus on two key factors that may motivate younger and older adults to engage in climate change action, legacy concern and place attachment, and assess whether older adults differ in any appreciable way from the general population in this domain. We randomly exposed participants of different ages to either a Legacy, Place, or control writing induction task before they completed various self-report measures. Both induction conditions were associated with significantly greater pro-environmental behavioral intentions and donations for all age groups when compared to the control condition. Legacy motivation and biophilia were used as manipulation checks and found to partially mediate these effects. Findings suggest that legacy and place message framing may be useful in prompting adults of all ages to take action to help combat climate change.

Citing Articles

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Responsibility to future generations: A strategy for combatting climate change across political divides.

Syropoulos S, Law K, Kraft-Todd G, Mah A, Markowitz E, Young L Br J Soc Psychol. 2024; 64(1):e12775.

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