Date
Monday, November 13, 2023
Time
5:15 PM - 6:45 PM
Name
Segmentation of Attitudes toward Climate Change in Canada
Session ID BECC
Poster Presentations
Track
Social Science Insights
Description

Attitudes about climate change are the product of many factors, such that single measures are generally inadequate for predicting pro-climate outcomes. We applied Latent Class Analysis (LCA) in a nationally representative sample of Canadians (N = ~2000) to reveal distinctions across the population on the issue of climate change. We identified five segments of Canadians from 13 measures of climate change-related beliefs, risk perceptions, affect, social norms, perceived self-efficacy, and self-reported willingness to take individual action in support of mitigation. Two thirds of the sample, labelled Committed (~25%) and Supportive (~37%), are most motivated in support of climate action. One third of the population (31%) represents a potentially “moveable middle”. These segments, labelled Ambivalent (~18%) and Indifferent (~13%), are not particularly motivated or engaged but might support collective action. A further small minority are Resistant (7%) to climate action and strongly disbelieve in climate change. LCA reveals differences among the five segments in their support for climate mitigation policy, climate literacy, susceptibility to climate-related misinformation, estimates of social consensus, and uptake of pro climate behaviours. This has identified key signals that suggest priority areas for further research, such as leveraging data-driven approaches to audience segmentation to build support for major policy initiatives.

Supporting Document 1