Joel Ginn, Ezra Markowitz, Dan Chapman, Meaghan Guckian, Se Min Suh, & Brian Lickel
Structural vs. Individual Change Beliefs: Top-Down or Bottom-Up Change
Contact at: jcginn@umass.edu
Climate change is the result of both individual and collective actions. Proposed solutions to mitigate its impacts include both individual and structural level change. While many experts have their own beliefs about the efficacy of such 鈥渂ottom up鈥� (i.e., individual focused) versus 鈥渢op down鈥� (i.e., systems focused) approaches, non-experts hold their own, heterogeneous beliefs on how this issue should be tackled and what the correct actions to take towards a sustainable future are. These beliefs are important to understand as they may impact individual behavior, policy support, and inclinations towards collective action. In a sample of student activists (n = 30) and a brief intercept study (n = 456) we examine individuals鈥� beliefs about the most appropriate and effective ways to address climate change. People鈥檚 attributions of blame for climate change as well as their emotional responses predict variation in such top-down and bottom-up beliefs; in turn, these beliefs predict differential preferences about where environmental groups should focus their attention and energy.
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