Have you ever had a hunch that scary or negative images of climate change could turn people away or cause them to shut down? This is what professor Joshua Carlson from North Michigan University has been studying in his cognitive science lab.
Environmental communications has often used "negative" images such as drought, fire, melting glaciers, pollution, or deforestation. However, we also use "positive" images that show solutions such as solar panels, green roofs, or wind turbines.
Joshua's research tested the effect that positive (solutions-oriented) images and negative (problem-orientated) images had on people's attention and cognition. In this episode, he'll be sharing his insights on how negative climate images were found to slow attention and cause a "freezing" effect which has serious implications for how we communicate about climate change.
How to Save the World is a Podcast About the Psychology of What Gets People To Take On Sustainable Behavior and Climate Action.
Environmental engineer, designer, and author, Katie Patrick, hunts, down the latest behavioral science literature from top universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford to unearth the evidence-based teachings you can use to get magnitudes more people to adopt your environmental campaign, program, or product. Sign up for Katie's free behavior and gamification design course at katiepatrick.com
Get a copy of How to Save the World on Amazon
This podcast is supported by our friends at Earth Hacks who run environmental hackathons, Conservation X Labs who promote community-driven open tech development for conservation, and Climate Designers - a network of designers who use their creative skills for climate action. You might enjoy joining their communities and events.
Contribute a monthly donation at patreon.com/katiepatrick to help me continue to make these episodes possible. Thank you to Jordan, Nader, Mike, Gary, Alex, Ben, Dee, and Ian for contributing! Xx
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