Climate Adaptation 2014 The Impact of place identity on responding to climate change (901)
Multiple approaches have been developed to address the limitations of traditional climate change communication in particular considering the high proportion of the population who reject anthropogenic climate change in western countries. In Australia that number has reached around 40%. In this study we test the influence of four frames, place identity, biodiversity conservation, economy prosperity and traditional climate change on subjects’ responses to the problem. The sample (N=156) included people who thought climate change was natural and people who thought it was human-induced. Four questionnaires were designed representing each frame and the same 18 climate change-related actions. Items were grouped into three scales: consumption-investment, consumption-reduction and political participation. Results show a significant impact of place identity frame over climate change for consumption-investment, consumption-reduction in the total sample and among those who rejected the anthropogenic causes of the problem. This shows the importance of non-materialistic values in addressing climate change communications. Place identity and associated psychological factors can contribute to overcoming the limitations associated with strong, antagonist and controversial views on climate change.