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Reassessing emotion in climate change communication

Nature Climate Change volume 7, pages 850–852 (2017)Cite this article

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Debate over effective climate change communication must be grounded in rigorous affective science. Rather than treating emotions as simple levers to be pulled to promote desired outcomes, emotions should be viewed as one integral component of a cognitive feedback system guiding responses to challenging decision-making problems.

David Wallace-Wells’ New York Magazine article describing the possible devastating impacts of climate change has reignited an increasingly heated debate among researchers, advocates, and commentators over the pros and cons of ‘doom and gloom’ messaging in climate change communications1. Some prominent scientists have pushed back against the article in part arguing that such pessimistic coverage depresses and demoralizes the public into further inaction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts — Amherst, Amherst, USA

    Daniel A. Chapman & Brian Lickel

  2. Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts — Amherst, Amherst, USA

    Ezra M. Markowitz

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  1. Daniel A. Chapman
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  2. Brian Lickel
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  3. Ezra M. Markowitz
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Correspondence to Daniel A. Chapman.

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Chapman, D.A., Lickel, B. & Markowitz, E.M. Reassessing emotion in climate change communication. Nature Clim Change 7, 850–852 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-017-0021-9

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