Misperceived Social Norms and Willingness to Act Against Climate Change

Peter Andre, Teodora Boneva, Felix Chopra and Armin Falk

No 101, ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: We document individual willingness to fight climate change and its behavioral determinants in a large representative sample of US adults. Willingness to fight climate change – as measured through an incentivized donation decision – is highly heterogeneous across the population. Individual beliefs about social norms, economic preferences such as patience and altruism, as well as universal moral values positively predict climate preferences. Moreover, we document systematic misperceptions of prevalent social norms. Respondents vastly underestimate the prevalence of climate- friendly behaviors and norms among their fellow citizens. Providing respondents with correct information causally raises individual willingness to fight climate change as well as individual support for climate policies. The effects are strongest for individuals who are skeptical about the existence and threat of global warming.

Keywords: Climate change; climate behavior; climate policies; social norms; economic preferences; moral values; beliefs; survey experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D64 D83 D91 Q51 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 74 pages
Date: 2021-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env and nep-exp
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_101_2021.pdf Second version, 2022 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Misperceived Social Norms and Willingness to Act Against Climate Change (2024)
Working Paper: Misperceived social norms and willingness to act against climate change (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:101

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