New publication: 'Perceived plasticity of climate-relevant behaviors and policy support among high- and lower-income individuals'
Behaviour change is central to climate change mitigation, yet the capacity to change climate-relevant behaviours is not evenly distributed. Differences in resources and opportunities mean that what is feasible for some individuals may be far less feasible for others.
Behaviour change is central to climate change mitigation, yet the capacity to change climate-relevant behaviours is not evenly distributed. Differences in resources and opportunities mean that what is feasible for some individuals may be far less feasible for others. This raises important questions about inequality, responsibility and how climate policies should be designed.
In a newly published paper in Global Environmental Change, Kristian Steensen Nielsen and Jan M. Bauer from the Centre for Sustainability and co-authors examine perceived behavioural plasticity which captures how likely individuals believe they are to change climate-relevant behaviours given associated costs and barriers.
The study analyses survey data from 4,003 participants in Denmark, India, Nigeria, and the United States, with a deliberate oversampling of individuals in the top 10% of the income distribution, a group with larger carbon footprints and greater political influence, yet often underrepresented in survey research.
𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
🔹 Perceived behavioural plasticity differs across contexts
Substantial cross-country differences are observed, with higher perceived plasticity for both investment and curtailment behaviours in India and Nigeria.
🔹 Income matters
Across countries, higher-income individuals report greater perceived plasticity for behaviours such as reducing red meat consumption, purchasing electric vehicles, and shifting investments towards climate-friendly financial products. In Denmark and the United States, however, higher-income respondents perceive reducing flights or white meat consumption as less likely.
🔹 Strong links to climate policy support
Perceived behavioural plasticity is consistently and positively associated with support for climate policies. Those who believe they can change are more likely to support policies promoting such changes, in some cases especially among high-income groups.
Together, these findings speak directly to the behaviour-policy interconnection and contribute to ongoing debates about individual versus systemic change in climate action.
Read the open-access paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095937802500144X
With thanks to the full author team: Fabian Dablander, Ulf Hahnel, Ramit Debnath, Sakshi Ghai, Wilhelm Hofmann, Wencke Gwozdz, and Charles A. Emogor.