Psychological Distance in Climate Change Communication: Insights from a Survey of Scientists’ Current Practices

Abstract When problems are perceived as distant, people may be less motivated to take action about them. A large body of literature on research-based best practices for climate change communication suggests that reducing the perceived psychological distance between individuals and climate change can heighten awareness and risk perception and motivate action to address this global issue. Scientists play an important role in educating the public about climate change through communication, yet little is known about how they frame the issue as psychologically close or distant. A survey-based research study was conducted to explore scientists’ use of psychological distance in their climate change communication with public audiences. Participants in the study reported using a range of psychological distance cues when describing climate change, which could encourage their audiences to consider this as both a close and distant issue. Further, scientists who participated in this study tended to report preferences describing climate change as socially and spatially proximal, yet as temporally more distal. Finally, scientists in this study reported emphasizing certainty but were more neutral when it came to emphasizing uncertainty. This study provides important understanding of how scientists are currently communicating about climate change and opportunities for training to support their climate change communication. Significance Statement When problems are perceived as distant, people may be less motivated to take action about them. Scientists play an important role in educating the public about climate change through communication, yet little is known about how they frame climate change as psychologically close or distant, which could influence how their audiences perceive this issue. This exploratory, descriptive, survey-based study provides important understanding of how scientists are currently describing climate change as close or distant when performing climate change communication. Key findings were that scientists reported using a range of proximal and distal cues, with preferences for describing climate change as spatially and socially proximal, temporally more distal, and certain.