How Emotion Trumps Logic in Climate Change Risk Perception: Exploring the Affective Heuristic Among Wildlife Science Students

Abstract

Despite scientific support for the reality of climate change, public opinion remains polarized. Continued skepticism may be partially explained by lack of understanding of climate change science, and worldview and ideology, but factors contributing to risk perceptions also may differ depending on the subject of risk. This article compared how wildlife students in the eastern United States perceive climate change risk to wildlife versus humans. Left-leaning political ideology and acceptance of anthropogenic global warming predicted perceptions of climate change risks to humans. Contrastingly, scientific understanding was the most important predictor of wildlife-related risk perceptions. Students may have used an affective heuristic (i.e., emotions) in assessing climate change risks to society and a cognitive reasoning (i.e., logic and data) when considering climate change risks to wildlife, which suggests that climate change communicators should appeal to these different modes of thinking when considering risks to humans versus wildlife.

Keywords:

• affective heuristic
• climate change
• human dimensions
• risk perception
• wildlife