What is climate change scepticism? Examination of the concept using a mixed methods study of the UK public

Capstick, Stuart Bryce ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1934-4503 and Pidgeon, Nicholas Frank ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8991-0398 2014. What is climate change scepticism? Examination of the concept using a mixed methods study of the UK public. Global Environmental Change 24 , pp. 389-401. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.08.012

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (587kB) | Preview

Abstract

The holding of doubts about climate change is often referred to as ‘scepticism’. However, there has been a lack of clarity in previous work as to what exactly this scepticism comprises. We integrate data obtained from discussion groups and a nationally representative survey, to interrogate and refine the concept of climate change scepticism with respect to the views of members of the public. We argue that two main types should be distinguished: epistemic scepticism, relating to doubts about the status of climate change as a scientific and physical phenomenon; and response scepticism, relating to doubts about the efficacy of action taken to address climate change. Whilst each type is independently associated by people themselves with climate change scepticism, we find that the latter is more strongly associated with a lack of concern about climate change. As such, additional effort should be directed towards addressing and engaging with people's doubts concerning attempts to address climate change.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Scepticism; Climate change; Public attitudes; Perceptions; Cultural theory
Additional Information:	This is an open access article under the CC-BY license.
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0959-3780
Funders:	ESRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	18 August 2013
Last Modified:	02 May 2023 21:18
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/53915

Citation Data

Cited 147 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item