Human Responses to Climate Change: Social Representation, Identity and Socio-Psychological Action.
Date
2014Abstract
Climate change is one of the most important global challenges in the twenty-first century, given that a changing climate is likely to have negative and potentially irreversible consequences for the environment and human beings. Drawing upon Social Representations Theory and Identity Process Theory from social psychology, we argue that research should focus upon, and successfully integrate, three levels of analysis, namely (1) how climate change knowledge is constructed and circulates (social representation); (2) the role of identity in relation to these representations (identity); and (3) how people might respond to them (action). It is suggested that identity processes may determine how people process social representations of climate change, and that they mediate the link between representations and environmental behaviour. Understanding human responses to climate change necessitates an integrative social sciences perspective, in terms of disciplinary, theoretical and methodological approaches.
Description
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
Citation : Jaspal, R., Nerlich, B. and Cinnirella, M. (2014). Human Responses to Climate Change: Social Representation, Identity and Socio-Psychological Action. Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture. 8 (1), pp. 110-130
Research Group : Psychology
Research Institute : Media Discourse Centre (MDC)
Research Institute : Mary Seacole Research Centre
Research Institute : Mary Seacole Research Centre
Peer Reviewed : Yes