Skip to main content
COMMUNITY:
Peer-reviewed article

Exposure to Scientific Consensus Does Not Cause Psychological Reactance

May 1, 2019 | Media and Technology, Public Programs

In a recent article, Ma, Dixon, and Hmielowski (2019. Psychological Reactance from Reading Basic Facts on Climate Change: The Role of Prior Views and Political Identification. Environmental Communication, 13(1), 71-86) explore whether scientific consensus messages activate psychological reactance. They find no main effect of the consensus message on psychological reactance, but a subsequent moderation analysis appears to show reactance among audiences who question the existence of climate change, especially Republicans. Here we attempt to replicate this finding in a large national sample of American adults (N = 6,301). Consistent with Ma et al., we find no main effect of the consensus condition on our measure of psychological reactance. However, in contrast to Ma et al., we find no evidence of psychological reactance among Republicans, conservatives, or those with dismissive prior views. Although people who question climate change are more likely to say that the 97% consensus message is manipulative, this main effect exists regardless of experimental condition, indicating that psychological reactance does not stem from exposure to the scientific consensus.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • Sander van der Linden
    Author
    University of Cambridge
  • Edward Maibach
    Author
    George Mason University
  • Anthony Leiserowitz
    Author
    Yale University
  • Citation

    DOI : 10.1080/17524032.2019.1617763
    ISSN : 1752-4040
    Publication Name: Environmental Communication
    Resource Type: Research Products
    Discipline: Climate
    Audience: Administration/Leadership/Policymakers | General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals | Scientists
    Environment Type: Media and Technology | Public Programs

    If you would like to edit a resource, please email us to submit your request.