Thea Gregersen: Worry about climate change: The role of mental models and political ideology

Thea Gregersen, PhD Candidate in Psychology at Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation (CET), will present a work in progress:

Worry about climate change: The role of mental models and political ideology.

Abstract:
Whether people are willing to engage in climate change mitigation is arguably associated with their level of worry about the issue. Consequently, understanding the role of subjective- and social factors in relation to worry about climate change is an important step in managing rapid and far-reaching transformation. Two factors that have repeatedly been associated with individual differences in worry is mental models and political ideology. Still, the research has mainly been carried out with data from the US.This study seeks to investigate mental models, ideology and worry across Europe, utilizing data from the European Social Survey (ESS). Specifically, we seek to answer three questions regarding climate change worry in Europe: (1) How important are mental models as opposed to political ideology in explaining worry about climate change? (2) How does political ideology interact with mental models in explaining worry? (3) Can country-average ideology explain some of the variance in worry between countries?

Lunch is served at first come, first served basis.