Abstract

People’s perception of their own efficacy is a critical precursor for adaptive behavioural responses to the threat posed by climate change. The present study investigated whether components of climate efficacy could be enhanced by short video messages. An online study (N = 161) compared groups of participants who received messages focusing on individual or collective behaviour. Relative to a control group, these groups showed increased levels of response efficacy but not self-efficacy. However, this did not translate to increased climate commitment; mediation analysis suggested that the video messages, while increasing efficacy, may also have had a counterproductive effect on behavioural intentions, possibly by reducing the perceived urgency of action. This finding reinforces the challenge faced by climate communicators seeking to craft a message that boosts efficacy and simultaneously motivates adaptive responses to the climate crisis.

摘要

人们对自身效能的感知是对气候变化威胁做出适应性行为反应的关键前兆。本研究调查了是否可以通过短视频信息增强气候功效的组成部分。在线学习（N = 161) 比较了收到关注个人或集体行为信息的参与者组。相对于对照组，这些组的反应效能水平有所提高，但自我效能却没有。然而，这并没有转化为气候承诺的增加；中介分析表明，视频信息虽然提高了效率，但也可能对行为意图产生了适得其反的影响，可能是通过降低对行动的紧迫性的感知。这一发现强化了气候传播者所面临的挑战，他们寻求制定提高效率并同时激发对气候危机的适应性反应的信息。