Will Americans Accept Obama’s Climate Plan? New Study Offers Clues

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A new study suggests how President Obama may be able to sway at least some Americans with his new climate plan unveiled today.

In a study just published online in the Journal of Communication, researchers examined how Americans reacted to persuasive arguments for and against government intervention on climate change.

Obama’s speech today can be seen as one argument for intervention, said Erik Nisbet, co-author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University. He is available to discuss how Americans may react to his speech.

In the study, Nisbet and his colleagues found that some open-minded people can be swayed to support government intervention on climate change - but only if they are presented with both the benefits and the costs. Open-minded people didn’t change their view if they heard arguments for only one side of the issue.

“Climate change is such a polarizing issue that has received so much attention, so it is very difficult to influence people to change their opinion,” Nisbet said. “But our results suggest there are ways to approach the issue that may have some impact, at least for a segment of the public.”

Closed-minded people may still be swayed to support climate change mitigation, but it will require a different approach, Nisbet said.

Closed-minded people focus on the dangers of changing the way things are and are more likely to support maintaining the status quo. This suggests that closed-minded people may be influenced by messages that focus on how government approaches to climate change may preserve the status quo by, for instance, protecting our lifestyle or nation's economic status, Nisbet said.

More information on the study can be found here:http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/climatemind.htm

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