Papers by Connie Roser-Renouf
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013
However, Americans increasingly perceive global warming as a growing threat to themselves, their ... more However, Americans increasingly perceive global warming as a growing threat to themselves, their families, and their local communities .
Engaging adolescents in climate change through information seeking: A risk perception attitude (RPA) framework approach
Background: Information seeking is an important outcome in health communication research and prac... more Background: Information seeking is an important outcome in health communication research and practice. Increasing adolescents' information seeking may constitute an important step in promoting climate change-reducing behaviors, but research is limited. The risk perception attitude (RPA) framework has been used to predict health information seeking by segmenting audiences according to their risk perceptions and efficacy beliefs. This study used the RPA framework to investigate information seeking behaviors related to climate change among adolescents. Methods: A nationally representative survey of adults and their adolescent children (n=515 pairs) was collected in January and June, 2010, to assess climate change attitudes and behaviors. Respondents were classified into four RPA groups: indifference (low risk, weak efficacy), proactive (low risk, strong efficacy), avoidance (high risk, weak efficacy), and responsive (high risk, strong efficacy). The effect of RPA group membership o...
Margin of error: +/-3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level for the full sample. NOTE: Al... more Margin of error: +/-3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level for the full sample. NOTE: All results show percentages among all respondents, unless otherwise labeled. Totals may occasionally sum to more occasionally round to more than 100 percent due to rounding.
Public Perceptions of NASA's Research and Reactions to the Climate.Nasa.Gov Website
SSRN Electronic Journal
This report contains results from a nationally representative survey of American adults conducted... more This report contains results from a nationally representative survey of American adults conducted in April and May 2012. The survey examined public beliefs about federal agencies that are engaged in climate change research, and assessed which agencies the public looks to for answers to their questions on the issue. Furthermore, participants visited NASA’s climate change website.
Informal Science Education on the Nasa Climate Change Website: Addressing the Challenge of Educating Diverse Audiences
SSRN Electronic Journal
Climate Silence on the Web Sites of US Health Departments
American Journal of Public Health
Strategic Communication Research to Illuminate and Promote Public Engagement with Climate Change
Nebraska Symposium on Motivation
Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development
The Critical Roles of Health Professionals in Climate Change Prevention and Preparedness
American journal of public health, Jan 26, 2017
Climate change is a burgeoning public health concern, with implications for chronic health condit... more Climate change is a burgeoning public health concern, with implications for chronic health conditions; nutrition and food security; food-, water-, and vector-borne diseases; and social disruption, injuries, displacement, and death associated with extreme weather.Climate change is contributing to health disparities in the United States by having a disproportionate impact on low-income individuals, some communities of color, and those with higher vulnerability to chronic health conditions.Moreover, these vulnerabilities can co-occur. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 26, 2017: e1-e2. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.304044).
Exposure to the Pope's Climate Change Message Activated Convinced Americans to Take Certain Activism Actions
Global Challenges
Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans' Climate Change Beliefs, Attitudes, Policy Preferences, and Actions
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
In September and October of 2008 a research team from Yale and George Mason Universities conducte... more In September and October of 2008 a research team from Yale and George Mason Universities conducted a nationally representative survey of 2,164 American adults. Survey participants were asked about their issue priorities for the new administration and Congress, support and opposition regarding climate change and energy policies, levels of political and consumer activism, and beliefs about the reality and risks of global warming. Overall, the survey found that concerns about the economy dwarfed all other issues: 76 percent of Americans said that the economy was a “very high” priority. Global warming ranked 10th out of 11 national issues; nonetheless it remains a high or very high national priority for a majority of Americans. In addition, 72 percent of Americans said that the issue of global warming is important to them personally. In line with these concerns, large majorities of Americans said that everyone - companies, political leaders at all levels of government, and individual citizens - should do more to reduce global warming. Likewise, despite the economic crisis, over 90 percent of Americans said that the United States should act to reduce global warming, even if it has economic costs. This included 34 percent who said the U.S. should make a large-scale e≠ort, even if it has large economic costs. Americans strongly supported unilateral action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: 67% said the United States should reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases, regardless of what other countries do, while only 7 percent said we should act only if other industrialized and developing countries (such as China, India, and Brazil) reduce their emissions.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Global climate changea threat of potentially unprecedented magnitudeis viewed from a variety of p... more Global climate changea threat of potentially unprecedented magnitudeis viewed from a variety of perspectives by Americans, with some dismissing the danger, some entirely unaware of its significance, and still others highly concerned and motivated to take action. Understanding the sources of these diverse perspectives is key to effective audience engagement: Messages that ignore the cultural and political underpinnings of people's views on climate change are less likely to succeed. In this chapter, we describe Global Warming's Six Americassix unique audience segments that view and respond to the issue in distinct ways. We describe the beliefs and characteristics of each group and discuss methods of effectively communicating with them in light of: (1) the pro-or counter-attitudinal nature of messages on the issue for each group; (2) their willingness to exert the cognitive effort necessary to process information on the issue; (3) their propensity for counter-arguing, motivated reasoning and message distortion; and (4) the communication content they say they most desire and, hence, would be most likely to process and accept.
Adopting climate control behaviors at the household level: A risk perception attitude (RPA) framework approach
Background: Mitigating climate change requires adopting sustainable behaviors at multiple levels.... more Background: Mitigating climate change requires adopting sustainable behaviors at multiple levels. This paper seeks to determine how parent- and adolescent-level factors affect household behaviors. The risk perception attitude (RPA) framework, which posits that risk perceptions act as motivators and efficacy beliefs as facilitators of behavior change, has not been used at the household level. It was used to predict household-level behaviors and behavioral intentions for reducing climate change. Methods: Data from two waves of a nationally representative survey of parents and one of their adolescent children (n=515 pairs) in the US were collected in January and June, 2010. The RPA framework classified respondents into four groups: indifference (low risk, weak efficacy), proactive (low risk, strong efficacy), avoidance (high risk, weak efficacy), and responsive (high risk, strong efficacy). Correspondence between parental and adolescent RPA groups was assessed using Χ2 tests. A linear ...
This report extends and updates an ongoing program of research analyzing Americans' interpretatio... more This report extends and updates an ongoing program of research analyzing Americans' interpretations of and responses to climate change. This research segments the American public into six audiences that range along a spectrum of concern and issue engagement.
Interviews: 1,024 Adults (18+) Margin of error: +/-3 percentage points at the 95% confidence leve... more Interviews: 1,024 Adults (18+) Margin of error: +/-3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. NOTE: All results show percentages among all respondents, unless otherwise labeled. Totals may occasionally sum to more than 100 percent due to rounding.
We conducted a nationally representative survey (n = 1,008) to assess public climate change under... more We conducted a nationally representative survey (n = 1,008) to assess public climate change understanding, risk perceptions, policy support, and climate and energy-related behaviors from March 12, 2012 – March 30, 2012. This report describes Americans’ actions to conserve energy, reduce waste, and limit global warming drawing on this and our prior surveys.
This report extends and updates an ongoing program of research analyzing Americans’ interpretatio... more This report extends and updates an ongoing program of research analyzing Americans’ interpretations of and responses to climate change. The research segments the American public into six audiences that range along a spectrum of concern and issue engagement from the Alarmed, who are convinced of the reality and danger of climate change and highly supportive of personal and political actions to mitigate the threat, to the Dismissive, who are equally convinced that climate change is not occurring and that no response should be made.
In March 2012 we conducted a nationally representative survey and found that a large majority of ... more In March 2012 we conducted a nationally representative survey and found that a large majority of Americans say they personally experienced an extreme weather event or natural disaster in the past year. A majority of Americans also say the weather in the United States is getting worse and many report that extreme weather in their own local area has become more frequent and damaging. Further, large majorities believe that global warming made a number of recent extreme weather events worse. Only about a third of Americans, however, have either a disaster emergency plan or an emergency supply kit in their homes.
Overall, majorities of Americans say that global warming and clean energy should be among the nat... more Overall, majorities of Americans say that global warming and clean energy should be among the nation’s priorities, want more action by elected officials, corporations and citizens themselves, and support a variety of climate change and energy policies, including holding fossil fuel companies responsible for all the “hidden costs” of their products. A majority also say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports a “revenue neutral” tax shift from income taxes to fossil fuels, and that global warming will be one of the issues that determines their vote for President this fall.
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Papers by Connie Roser-Renouf