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Do partisanship and politicization undermine the impact of a scientific consensus message about climate change?

2018; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 21; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1368430217737855

1461-7188

Toby Bolsen, James Druckman,

Social Media and Politics

Scientists are in near-universal agreement that human activity is a primary cause of climate change. Yet, despite this scientific consensus, the American public remains divided when it comes to beliefs about human-induced climate change. We investigate the role of partisan group identity and the politicization of science in undermining the impact of a scientific consensus message about human-induced climate change. We do so with a survey experiment administered on a nationally representative sample, finding that partisan identity—and especially politicization—can stunt the effect of a scientific consensus statement about climate change. We conclude with a discussion about how scientists, as a group, might work with partisans to more effectively communicate scientific information.