Tag: Climate Change Disinformation

Antecedent Ideological Profiles and Negative Socio-political Outcomes of LGBTQ+ Conspiracy Beliefs

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Abstract

Introduction

Conspiracy theories and beliefs (CTBs) about LGBTQ+ people are often used as arguments in political debate in Italy and across Europe to hinder the passing of protective laws and negatively affect popular consensus regarding the promotion of anti-discrimination policies and the advancement of civil rights.

Method

We conducted two correlational studies in Italy starting the data collection at the end of 2022. In Study 1 (N = 589), we investigated which ideological profile was more associated with LGBTQ+ CTBs, between the two profiles identified by Duckitt et al.’s model (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(1), 75–93, 2002): path A) high vision of the world as a competitive jungle and consequent high social dominance orientation; path B) high vision of the world as dangerous and consequent high right-wing authoritarianism. In Study 2 (N = 1581), we have also included three potential outcomes associated with LGBTQ+ CTBs in the model.

Results

Through a mediational path model, we found that path B was the strongest associated with LGBTQ+ CTBs. We found that LGBTQ+ CTBs mediated the relationships between the two ideological dispositions and (a) lower support to LGBTQ+ civil rights; (b) lower LGBTQ+ collective action intentions; and (c) higher adherence to economic myths about LGBTQ+ people.

Conclusions

Socio-psychological research on LGBTQ+ CTBs may inform social policies that work to lessen the harm these beliefs do and advance a more welcoming and inclusive society.

Policy Implications

Such results offer several insights to change and improve the actual debate in political, scientific, and cultural domains, contributing to producing new policies which might increase the self-determination of all LGBTQ+ people.

Stakeholders’ perceptions of hydrogen and reflections on energy transition governance

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Abstract

Background

There is a race to innovate, develop or create hydrogen production technologies to accelerate energy transition and create a hydrogen economy. Acceptance has been used in social science literature as a lens through which to anticipate possible challenges surrounding hydrogen technologies. However, very few studies problematize perceptions and focus on the production of hydrogen. Hence, this study aims to bridge these theoretical and empirical gaps using a mixed-method approach based on semi-structured interviews (n = 7) and a questionnaire survey (n = 73) to understand stakeholders’ perceptions of hydrogen production sources through a social construction of technology lens.

Results

The findings suggest a tendency to favor hydrogen produced from renewable sources and to reject hydrogen produced from non-renewable sources. All the examined groups conform to this pattern. Their perceptions are based on prior knowledge of hydrogen technologies, with participants seeking information from specialized sources or from activities promoted by their organizations. Participants anticipate that hydrogen will be generated primarily through renewable energy sources and utilized where direct electrification is unfeasible. In addition, they envisage that the hydrogen economy will enhance energy democracy through representative participation in decision-making. Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that the topic is limited to certain social groups and kept away from the public eye. Furthermore, unlike the benefits, the perception of risk appears to have no impact on perceptions’ construction. High confidence in science appears to minimize the recognition of potential risks and bolster the recognition of potential benefits. There is, however, a lot of uncertainty about the possible real impacts of the hydrogen economy.

Conclusions

There appears to be a collective perspective on hydrogen production sources, indicating the existence of social representations. Nevertheless, group attitudes and backing towards hydrogen vary. The participants identify hydrogen as a matter that remained unnoticed for over a decade, despite its prominent position in the policies and economic approaches of numerous countries. The topic has been relegated to third parties. This exclusion of civil society from decision-making may justify the NGO group's critical stance towards hydrogen. Moreover, it suggests that energy democracy, which is based on information dissemination and participation, is not being achieved.

Cost sensitivity, partisan cues, and support for the Green New Deal

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Abstract

Opponents of climate policy proposals frequently ground their objections in terms of costs. However, it is unclear whether these objections are persuasive to individuals considering whether to support such programs. Not only do people have difficulties in understanding large numbers, partisans in particular may place more weight on the originator of a given proposal—supporting it if their own party proposed it, and opposing it otherwise. We test these dynamics using a survey experiment that varied the costs associated with real-world climate policy proposals attributed to each of the two major US political parties, compared to a control group where no cost was made salient. Our study allows us to disentangle the effects of cost perception and partisan identity on policy preferences. We find little evidence that respondents are systematically sensitive to program cost. Rather, we find that climate policy preferences are shaped by partisan identities, with respondents showing little sensitivity towards increasing costs. The results provide reason for skepticism that cost-based objections to climate spending programs are persuasive at scale, after accounting for partisan cue-taking.

COVID-19 response in Africa: impacts and lessons for environmental management and climate change adaptation

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic adds pressure on Africa; the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts, threatening the realization of most Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The continent is witnessing an increase in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, and environmental change. The COVID-19 was managed relatively well across in the continent, providing lessons and impetus for environmental management and addressing climate change. This work examines the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment and climate change, analyses its management and draws lessons from it for climate change response in Africa. The data, findings and lessons are drawn from peer reviewed articles and credible grey literature on COVID-19 in Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic spread quickly, causing loss of lives and stagnation of the global economy, overshadowing the current climate crisis. The pandemic was managed through swift response by the top political leadership, research and innovations across Africa providing possible solutions to COVID-19 challenges, and redirection of funds to manage the pandemic. The well-coordinated COVID-19 containment strategy under the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased sharing of resources including data was a success in limiting the spread of the virus. These strategies, among others, proved effective in limiting the spread and impact of COVID-19. The findings provide lessons that stakeholders and policy-makers can leverage in the management of the environment and address climate change. These approaches require solid commitment and practical-oriented leadership.

The role of digital social innovations to address SDGs: A systematic review

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Abstract

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the search for solutions to social problems associated with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Main actors are turning to Digital Social Innovations (DSIs), defined as collaborative innovations where enterprises, users and communities collaborate using digital technologies to promote solutions at scale and speed, connecting innovation, the social world and digital ecosystems to reach the 2030 Agenda. This study aims to identify how digital transformations and social innovations solve social problems and address SDGs. We conducted a systematic review based on a sample of 45 peer-reviewed articles published from 2010 to 2022, combining a bibliometric study and a content analysis focusing on opportunities and threats impacting these fields. We observed the spread and increasing use of technologies associated with all 17 SDGs, specially blockchain, IoT, artificial intelligence, and autonomous robots that are increasing their role and presence exponentially, completely changing the current way of doing things, offering a dramatic evolution in many different segments, such as health care, smart cities, agriculture, and the combat against poverty and inequalities. We identified many threats concerning ethics, especially with the increased use of public data, and concerns about the impacts on the labor force and the possible instability and impact it may cause in low skill/low pay jobs. We expect that our findings advance the concept of digital social innovations and the benefits of its adoption to promote social advancements.

Cultural Theory, Wildfire Information Source, and Agency Public Trust: A Central Oregon Case Study

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Abstract

With the increasing occurrence and severity of wildfires in the U.S., and especially in the forests and rangelands of the western U.S., it is important to know which wildfire information sources are trusted by households and the amount of trust placed on natural resources agencies to manage for wildfire. The Theory of Motivated Reasoning suggests that people will trust and use those information sources that conform to their own value and ideological orientations. Similarly, trust in natural resource agencies’ ability to manage wildfire may also be the result of cultural traits. This study uses Cultural Theory as a theoretical perspective to determine those value systems, and how cultural traits motivate people to use and trust various wildfire information sources and the agencies tasked with managing wildfire. Using random sample surveys of Wildland-Urban-Interface (WUI) households in fire-prone Deschutes County in central Oregon, the study finds that egalitarians are significantly more likely than those with other cultural traits to use and trust natural resource agency information sources, while individualists are more likely to use and trust family members and neighbors for their information. Similarly, egalitarians are trusting of natural resource managers to use prescribed fire, manage naturally ignited fires, and to thin forests to reduce fuels. Individualists are less trusting of government agencies to use the same approaches to reduce fuels. The study concludes with some suggestions for how wildfire policy makers and managers can use these findings to communicate more effectively important wildfire information to audiences with differing cultural traits and differing levels of natural resource agency trust.

Identifying public trust building priorities of gene editing in agriculture and food

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Abstract

Gene editing in agriculture and food (GEAF) is a nascent development with few products and is unfamiliar among the wider US public. GEAF has garnered significant praise for its potential to solve for a variety of agronomic problems but has also evoked controversy regarding safety and ethical standards of development and application. Given the wake of other agribiotechnology debates including GMOs (genetically modified organisms), this study made use of 36 in-depth key interviews to build the first U.S. based typology of proponent and critic priorities for shaping public trust in GEAF actors and objects. Key organizational actors provide early and foundational messaging, which is likely to contribute heavily to public salience, comprehension, and decision-making as potential consumers reflect upon their experiences, envision future outcomes, and consider the reputation of those trying to influence them. As is documented in our results, the trust-building priorities of these groups often stand in opposition to one another and are influenced by distinct motivations for how the public will come to trust or distrust GEAF actors and objects as more products are developed and enter the market.

Crisscrossing scapes in the global flow of elite mainland Chinese students

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Abstract

This paper applies Appadurai’s notion of scapes in globalisation to study international student mobility. Thirty mainland Chinese students were interviewed; the majority of whom studied at prestigious institutions in the West before enrolling in their current PhD programmes at a research-intensive university in Hong Kong (HK) in the immediate aftermath of HK’s large-scale social protests and amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. We seek to understand why these students relocated to HK to further their studies given these turbulent circumstances and how their mainlander identity and sojourns in the West influence their perceptions of HK’s social movements from the perspectives of ethnoscape and ideoscape, respectively. Our findings reveal that HK represented the ‘best’ compromise for our participants, mitigating their nostalgia for home (i.e. mainland China) whilst offering a superior education to the Chinese mainland. Most participants perceived HK as a nationalistic ideoscape, wherein HK people’s pursuit of autonomy is subordinated to the putative Chinese national interests. Moreover, ethnoscape and ideoscape dynamics were found to crisscross other scapes. Generous scholarships (i.e. financescape) provided additional incentives driving student relocations. The persistent consumption of Chinese social media (techno-mediascape) was found to have resulted in worldview conformity between our participants and the Chinese state.

Generative AI and science communication in the physical sciences

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Advances in generative AI could democratize science communication, by providing scientists with easy-to-use tools to help them communicate their work to different audiences. However, these tools are imperfect, and their output must be checked by experts. They can also be used maliciously to produce misinformation and disinformation. Seven researchers and science communicators weigh up the potential benefits of generative AI for science communication against its risks.

Verbal Repertoires and Contextual Factors in Cultural Change

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Abstract

This article provides an overview of cultural environmental factors that influence interactions between organized cultural groups and the recipients of their aggregate outcome. The discussion highlights the elaborated account of metacontingency with the primary focus on ways this perspective offers points of entry to alter contextual factors and change cultural practices. The concepts of metacontingency, macrobehavior, macrocontingency, and cultural milieu are emphasized in the behavior scientific analysis of cultural practices. In this process, interactions of verbally sophisticated cultural groups, the aggregate outcome, and their influence on the cultural environment will be examined. Moreover, the mediating role of verbal repertoires of individuals will be discussed.