Project description

Belief in climate change misinformation such as denying its anthropogenicity has been shown to confuse the electorate, and stall political action. While the extent of the public’s incorrect beliefs is comparatively well-understood, its causes are subject to an ongoing debate. One of the most prominent questions centers around the role of social media: Does social media use drive widespread belief in science-related misinformation?

Belief in climate change misinformation such as denying its anthropogenicity has been shown to confuse the electorate, and stall political action. The causes of such climate skepticism, however, are subject to an ongoing debate. One of the most prominent questions centers around the role of social media: Does social media use drive widespread belief in science-related misinformation?
The present project contributes to this timely debate by leveraging a unique data set comprising ten annual waves of longitudinal panel data among the New Zealand population (2009 -2019). This allows us to model the relationship between social media use and climate change beliefs regarding (i) its size and direction; (ii) potential over-time change from the “early days” of social media to the “rise of social media” in recent years; and (iii) allows us to establish temporal precedence: Does social media use precede climate denial, or does climate denial precede social media use? Or is there more nuance to this question, and social media drives climate denial among some social groups, but not others?

Cooperations

• Taciano Milfont, University of New Zealand