Despite growing scientific alarm about anthropogenic climate change, the world is not on track to solve the crisis. Inaction may be partially explained by skepticism about climate change and resistance to proenvironmental policies from people who are motivated to maintain the status quo (i.e., conservative-rightists). Therefore, practical interventions are needed. In the present research program, we tested an experimental manipulation derived from system justification theory in which proenvironmental initiatives were framed as patriotic and necessary to maintain the American “way of life.” In a large, nationally representative U.S. sample, we found that the system-sanctioned change intervention successfully increased liberal-leftists’ as well as conservative-rightists’ belief in climate change; support for proenvironmental policies; and willingness to share climate information on social media. Similar messages were effective in an aggregated analysis involving 63 countries, although the overall effect sizes were small. More granular exploratory analyses at the country level revealed that while the intervention was moderately successful in some countries (e.g., Brazil, France, Israel), it backfired in others (Germany, Belgium, Russia). Across the three outcome variables, the effects of the intervention were consistent and pronounced in the United States, in support of the hypothesis that system justification motivation can be harnessed on behalf of social change. Potential explanations for divergent country-level effects are discussed. The system-sanctioned change intervention holds considerable promise for policymakers and communicators seeking to increase climate awareness and action.

中文翻译：

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系统认可的框架对美国及其他地区气候意识和环境行动的影响


尽管科学界对人为气候变化的担忧日益强烈，但世界尚未走上解决危机的正轨。不采取行动的部分原因可能是对气候变化的怀疑以及那些有动力维持现状的人（即保守右翼分子）对环保政策的抵制。因此，需要采取实际干预措施。在目前的研究项目中，我们测试了一种源自系统合理性理论的实验操作，其中环保倡议被视为爱国的，并且是维持美国“生活方式”所必需的。在一个具有全国代表性的美国样本中，我们发现系统认可的变革干预成功地提高了自由左派和保守右派对气候变化的信念；支持环保政策；以及在社交媒体上分享气候信息的意愿。尽管总体影响较小，但类似的信息在涉及 63 个国家的汇总分析中也很有效。在国家层面进行更细致的探索性分析表明，虽然干预措施在一些国家（例如巴西、法国、以色列）取得了一定的成功，但在其他国家（德国、比利时、俄罗斯）却适得其反。在这三个结果变量中，干预的效果在美国是一致且明显的，支持了可以利用系统正当性动机来代表社会变革的假设。讨论了不同国家层面影响的潜在解释。系统认可的变革干预措施为寻求提高气候意识和行动的政策制定者和传播者带来了巨大的希望。