Bio

Sara Constantino is an assistant professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability in the Department of Environmental Social Sciences and a visiting research scholar at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. She is also a faculty affiliate at SPARQ and the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute. She has an interdisciplinary background at the intersection of economics, psychology, and environmental policy and politics. Her research focuses on understanding the interplay between individual, collective, institutional and ecological factors, including how they shape preferences, decisions, experiences and resilience to extreme events or shocks. In recent and ongoing studies, she is looking at the role of polarization, social norms and governance in stimulating or stifling climate action, including both adaptation and mitigation, and what conditions lead groups mobilize to shape policy and other outcomes. She also works on the impacts and politics of guaranteed income and other cash transfer programs. Prior to starting at Stanford, she was an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University and an associate research scholar at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Before this, she was a senior research fellow in guaranteed income with the Jain Family Institute, a founding editor at Nature Human Behavior, and a research coordinator with the Institute for Fiscal Studies. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from McGill University, a master’s degree in economics from University College London, a Ph.D. in cognitive and decision sciences from New York University, and did a postdoc focused on environmental policy, politics and decision-making at Princeton University.

Academic Appointments

Contact

  • Academic
    smc77@stanford.edu
    University - Faculty Department: Environmental Social Sciences Position: Assistant Professor

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 4216

2025-26 Courses

Stanford Advisees

All Publications

  • A method to identify positive tipping points to accelerate low-carbon transitions and actions to trigger them. Sustainability science Lenton, T. M., Powell, T. W., Smith, S. R., Geels, F. W., Alkemade, F., Ayoub, M., Barbrook-Johnson, P., Benson, S., Blomsma, F., Boulton, C. A., Buxton, J. E., Constantino, S. M., Eker, S., Greenlees, K., Homer-Dixon, T., Levin, K., Mascia, M. B., Nijsse, F. J., Otto, I. M., Spaiser, V., Sharpe, S., Smith, T. 2026; 21 (1): 201-220

    Abstract

    Meeting the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to "well below 2 °C" requires a radical acceleration of action, as the global economy is decarbonising at least five times too slowly. Tipping points, where low-carbon transitions become self-propelling, could be key to achieving the necessary acceleration. We deem these normatively 'positive', because they can limit considerable, inequitable harms from global warming and help achieve sustainability. Some positive tipping points, such as the UK's elimination of coal power, have already been reached at national and sectoral scales. The challenge now is to credibly identify further potential positive tipping points, and the actions that can bring them forward, whilst avoiding wishful thinking about their existence, or oversimplification of their nature, drivers, and impacts. Hence, we propose a methodology for identifying potential positive tipping points, assessing their proximity, identifying the factors that can influence them, and the actions that can trigger them. Building on relevant research, this 'identifying positive tipping points' (IPTiP) methodology aims to establish a common framework that we invite fellow researchers to help refine, and practitioners to apply. To that end, we offer suggestions for further work to improve it and make it more applicable.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s11625-025-01704-9

    View details for PubMedID 41573230

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12819444

  • Features of successful behavioral interventions: A data driven analysis of megastudy effects CURRENT RESEARCH IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES Patel, Y., Goldwert, D., Constantino, S. M., Vlasceanu, M. 2026; 10

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.crbeha.2026.100210

    View details for Web of Science ID 001741049100001

  • Do risk, time, and social preferences predict sustainable behavior? Evidence from a qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS Nichols, K. L., Matt-Navarro, J. M., Doiron, M. K., d'Adda, G., Weber, E. U., Constantino, S. M. 2026; 242

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108804

    View details for Web of Science ID 001644122200001

  • Conformity to social norm interventions is not amplified in tighter nations. Communications psychology Acierno, J., Tedaldi, E., Ginn, J., Goldwert, D., Vlasceanu, M., Geiger, S. J., Sparkman, G., Constantino, S. M. 2026

    Abstract

    Social norms have a reliable and oftentimes strong influence on individual attitudes and behaviors across environmental and other domains. This influence has been theorized to differ by cultural tightness-the extent to which people adhere to shared cultural norms. Understanding whether and how cultural context moderates the influence of behavioral interventions is essential for the design of culturally-attuned and adaptable interventions to address collective action problems like climate change. Yet, past research has primarily relied on correlational approaches to demonstrate cross-cultural differences in norm adherence, without experimentally manipulating norm information across different settings, limiting insights into how cultural context shapes conformity to norm interventions. Our study tests the effects of three social norm interventions on the climate-related attitudes and behaviors of 16,089 participants in 42 countries. We find that conformity to social norm interventions is not uniformly amplified in tight cultures, suggesting a nuanced relationship between cultural tightness and normative interventions.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s44271-026-00429-4

    View details for PubMedID 41787069

  • A megastudy of behavioral interventions to catalyze public, political, and financial climate advocacy. PNAS nexus Goldwert, D., Constantino, S. M., Patel, Y., Sabherwal, A., Semken, C., Brick, C., Castiglione, A., Debnath, R., Doell, K. C., Dubey, R., Fang, K., Goldberg, M. H., Ma, W. J., Nielsen, K. S., Rathje, S., Schneider, C. R., Sheldrick, M., Shreedhar, G., van der Linden, S., Acevedo, J., Alam, R., Boon-Falleur, M., Buchel, O., Chen, X., Cheng, P. W., Fabre, A., Feinberg, M., Frese, J., Fuller, K., Helferich, M., Kantorowicz, J., Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, E., Kim, A., Kim, J. J., Lee, J., Marchewka, A., Mildenberger, M., Pearson, A., Pezzuto, J. H., Pizziol, V., Prokosch, M., Protzko, J., Ramos, G. A., Rose, W., Sherman, D. K., Swanson, E., Syropoulos, S., Tavoni, A., Thiel, M. H., Van Boven, L., Willer, R., Yang, T., Zaremba, D., Vlasceanu, M. 2026; 5 (1): pgaf400

    Abstract

    Addressing climate change depends on large-scale system changes, which require public advocacy. Here, we identified and tested 17 expert-crowdsourced theory-informed behavioral interventions designed to promote public, political, and financial advocacy in a large quota-matched sample of US residents (n = 31,324). The most consistently effective intervention emphasized both the collective efficacy and emotional benefits of climate action, increasing advocacy by up to 10 percentage points. This was also the top intervention among participants identifying as Democrats. Appealing to binding moral foundations, such as purity and sanctity, was also among the most effective interventions, showing positive effects even among participants identifying as Republicans. These findings provide critical insights to policymakers and practitioners aiming to galvanize the public behind collective action and advocacy on climate change with affordable and scalable interventions.

    View details for DOI 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf400

    View details for PubMedID 41608136

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12836310

  • Assessing Nudge Impact: A Comprehensive Second-Order Meta-Analysis JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING Hu, B., Xia, Z., Guo, Q., Lu, C., Constantino, S., Ju, X. 2025; 38 (5)

    View details for DOI 10.1002/bdm.70053

    View details for Web of Science ID 001635776000001

  • Culture Mediates Climate Opinion Change: A System Dynamics Model of Risk Perception, Polarization, and Policy Effectiveness CLIMATE Shin, Y., Constantino, S. M., Gross, L. J., Kinzig, A., Lacasse, K., Beckage, B. 2025; 13 (9)

    View details for DOI 10.3390/cli13090194

    View details for Web of Science ID 001579580500001

  • Paying attention and paying the costs: wildfires in the American West CLIMATIC CHANGE Andrews, T. M., Constantino, S. M., Cooperman, A. D., Gard-Murray, A. 2025; 178 (9)

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s10584-025-03998-1

    View details for Web of Science ID 001563519400001

  • Social norms and groups structure safe operating spaces in renewable resource use in a social-ecological multi-layer network model EARTH SYSTEM DYNAMICS Bechthold, M., Barfuss, W., Butz, A., Breier, J., Constantino, S. M., Heitzig, J., Schwarz, L., Vardag, S. N., Donges, J. F. 2025; 16 (4): 1365-1390

    View details for DOI 10.5194/esd-16-1365-2025

    View details for Web of Science ID 001556552400001

  • Growing climate change risk concerns with rising regional disparities in China. npj climate action Xia, Z., Ye, J., Debnath, R., Dong, X., Xie, J., Xu, M., Tian, X., Marlon, J., Zhang, C., Yang, J., Constantino, S., Liu, M. 2025; 4 (1): 78

    Abstract

    This study presents a high-resolution mapping of climate change perceptions across China, highlighting the evolution of public perception regarding the priority and impact of climate change over a 13-year period between 2010 and 2023. Utilizing data from two national surveys conducted (N = 11783 and N = 4050), we show a considerable rise in the perceived priority (19%) and impact (13%) of climate change issues nationally, alongside growing regional disparities. We do robustness checks of our results using repeated simulations between multilevel regression and poststratification and disaggregation methods. By examining perceived impacts against actual risk exposure, we show the need for managing regional vulnerabilities and tailored and targeted communication strategies to mitigate the spatial mismatch between climate change perception and risk exposure.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s44168-025-00272-z

    View details for PubMedID 40852564

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12367554

  • Beyond tipping points: risks, equity, and the ethics of intervention EARTH SYSTEM DYNAMICS Pereira, L. M., Smith, S. R., Gifford, L., Newell, P., Villasante, S., Achieng, T., Castro, A., Constantino, S. M., Powell, T., Ghadiali, A., Smith, B., Vogel, C., Zimm, C. 2025; 16 (4): 1267-1285

    View details for DOI 10.5194/esd-16-1267-2025

    View details for Web of Science ID 001542776600001

  • Climate change and opinion dynamics models: Linking individual, social, and institutional level changes CURRENT OPINION IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES Shin, Y., Constantino, S. M., Beckage, B., Lacasse, K. 2025; 64

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101528

    View details for Web of Science ID 001502059400001

  • How publics in small-island states view climate change and international responses to it. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Mildenberger, M., Constantino, S. M., Mahdavi, P., Bergquist, P., De Roche, G., Franzblau, E., Martinez-Alvarez, C., Sturm, I. 2025; 122 (30): e2415324122

    Abstract

    Climate change caused by carbon pollution from the world's largest economies poses an existential threat to small-island states and territories this century. These places bear virtually no responsibility for climate change but will face sea-level rise, fresh water resource degradation, and intensified storms that will kill or dislocate exposed publics, and damage local economies. To alleviate this crisis, the global community has begun discussing who is responsible for climate mitigation and adaptation costs for those affected by climate change, in addition to continued debates around the distribution of responsibility for climate change. Missing from this analysis, however, are systematic efforts to elicit the preferences and perceptions of publics in these threatened small-island states and territories. Here, we report results from a large-sample (n [Formula: see text] 14,710) cross-national survey of publics living in climate-vulnerable states and territories, conducted in June-July 2022. By quota sampling through Facebook's ad platform, we generate survey samples at the national or territorial level for publics in 55 small-island states, territories, and subnational regions in the South Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Caribbean. We find widespread awareness and concern about the threat posed by climate change and sea-level rise, in contrast to what existing research finds in the Global North. We also find that climate-vulnerable publics believe their home governments, large polluters, and former colonial powers are all responsible for helping to manage the climate crisis, irrespective of these actors' relative carbon emissions. These findings fill an important gap by depicting climate beliefs among the communities at the frontlines of climate change.

    View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2415324122

    View details for PubMedID 40711917

  • Seizing the policy opportunities for health- and equity-improving energy decisions ONE EARTH Peng, W., Anenberg, S., Bistline, J., Budolfson, M., Constantino, S. M., Crawford, K., Davis, K., Decarlo, P., Fawcett, A., Hashimoto, H., Helgeson, C., Huang, X., Iyer, G., Keller, K., Kennard, H., Kennedy, K. M., Laumbach, R., Limaye, V. S., Mayfield, E., Mcfarland, J., Meyer, M., Miller, P., Place, A., Roy, N., Schell, C., Scovronick, N., Smith, S. J., Srikrishnan, V., Vorhees, D., Xie, Y. 2025; 8 (2)

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.12.007

    View details for Web of Science ID 001434290300001

  • The International Climate Psychology Collaboration: Climate change-related data collected from 63 countries. Scientific data Doell, K. C., Todorova, B., Vlasceanu, M., Bak Coleman, J. B., Pronizius, E., Schumann, P., Azevedo, F., Patel, Y., Berkebile-Wineberg, M. M., Brick, C., Lange, F., Grayson, S. J., Pei, Y., Chakroff, A., van den Broek, K. L., Lamm, C., Vlasceanu, D., Constantino, S. M., Rathje, S., Goldwert, D., Fang, K., Aglioti, S. M., Alfano, M., Alvarado-Yepez, A. J., Andersen, A., Anseel, F., Apps, M. A., Asadli, C., Awuor, F. J., Basaglia, P., Bélanger, J. J., Berger, S., Bertin, P., Białek, M., Bialobrzeska, O., Blaya-Burgo, M., Bleize, D. N., Bø, S., Boecker, L., Boggio, P. S., Borau, S., Borau, S., Bos, B., Bouguettaya, A., Brauer, M., Brik, T., Briker, R., Brosch, T., Buchel, O., Buonauro, D., Butalia, R., Carvacho, H., Chamberlain, S. A., Chan, H. Y., Chow, D., Chung, D., Cian, L., Cohen-Eick, N., Contreras-Huerta, L. S., Contu, D., Cristea, V., Cutler, J., D'Ottone, S., De Keersmaecker, J., Delcourt, S., Delouvée, S., Diel, K., Douglas, B. D., Drupp, M. A., Dubey, S., Ekmanis, J., Elbaek, C. T., Elsherif, M., Engelhard, I. M., Escher, Y. A., Etienne, T. W., Farage, L., Farias, A. R., Feuerriegel, S., Findor, A., Freira, L., Friese, M., Gains, N. P., Gallyamova, A., Geiger, S. J., Genschow, O., Gjoneska, B., Gkinopoulos, T., Goldberg, B., Goldenberg, A., Gradidge, S., Grassini, S., Gray, K., Grelle, S., Griffin, S. M., Grigoryan, L., Grigoryan, A., Grigoryev, D., Gruber, J., Guilaran, J., Hadar, B., Hahnel, U. J., Halperin, E., Harvey, A. J., Haugestad, C. A., Herman, A. M., Hershfield, H. E., Himichi, T., Hine, D. W., Hofmann, W., Howe, L., Huaman-Chulluncuy, E. T., Huang, G., Ishii, T., Ito, A., Jia, F., Jost, J. T., Jovanović, V., Jurgiel, D., Kácha, O., Kankaanpää, R., Kantorowicz, J., Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, E., Mintz, K. K., Kaya, I., Kaya, O., Khachatryan, N., Klas, A., Klein, C., Klöckner, C. A., Koppel, L., Kosachenko, A. I., Kothe, E. J., Krebs, R., Krosch, A. R., Krouwel, A. P., Kyrychenko, Y., Lagomarsino, M., Cunningham, J. L., Lees, J., Leung, T. Y., Levy, N., Lockwood, P. L., Longoni, C., Ortega, A. L., Loschelder, D. D., Lu, J. G., Luo, Y., Luomba, J., Lutz, A. E., Majer, J. M., Markowitz, E., Marsh, A. A., Mascarenhas, K. L., Mbilingi, B., Mbungu, W., McHugh, C., Meijers, M. H., Mercier, H., Mhagama, F. L., Michalaki, K., Mikus, N., Milliron, S. G., Mitkidis, P., Monge-Rodríguez, F. S., Mora, Y. L., Morais, M. J., Moreau, D., Motoki, K., Moyano, M., Mus, M., Navajas, J., Nguyen, T. L., Nguyen, D. M., Nguyen, T., Niemi, L., Nijssen, S. R., Nilsonne, G., Nitschke, J. P., Nockur, L., Okura, R., Öner, S., Özdoğru, A. A., Palumbo, H., Panagopoulos, C., Panasiti, M. S., Pärnamets, P., Paruzel-Czachura, M., Pavlov, Y. G., Payán-Gómez, C., Pearson, A. R., da Costa, L. P., Petrowsky, H. M., Pfattheicher, S., Pham, N. T., Ponizovskiy, V., Pretus, C., Rêgo, G. G., Reimann, R., Rhoads, S. A., Riano-Moreno, J., Richter, I., Röer, J. P., Rosa-Sullivan, J., Ross, R. M., Sabherwal, A., Saito, T., Sarrasin, O., Say, N., Schmid, K., Schmitt, M. T., Schoenegger, P., Scholz, C., Schug, M. G., Schulreich, S., Shreedhar, G., Shuman, E., Sivan, S., Sjåstad, H., Soliman, M., Soud, K., Spampatti, T., Sparkman, G., Spasovski, O., Stanley, S. K., Stern, J. A., Strahm, N., Suko, Y., Sul, S., Syropoulos, S., Taylor, N. C., Tedaldi, E., Tinghög, G., Huynh, L. D., Travaglino, G. A., Tsakiris, M., Tüter, İ., Tyrala, M., Uluğ, Ö. M., Urbanek, A., Valko, D., van der Linden, S., van Schie, K., van Stekelenburg, A., Vanags, E., Västfjäll, D., Vesely, S., Vintr, J., Vranka, M., Wanguche, P. O., Willer, R., Wojcik, A. D., Xu, R., Yadav, A., Zawisza, M., Zhao, X., Zhao, J., Żuk, D., Van Bavel, J. J. 2024; 11 (1): 1066

    Abstract

    Climate change is currently one of humanity's greatest threats. To help scholars understand the psychology of climate change, we conducted an online quasi-experimental survey on 59,508 participants from 63 countries (collected between July 2022 and July 2023). In a between-subjects design, we tested 11 interventions designed to promote climate change mitigation across four outcomes: climate change belief, support for climate policies, willingness to share information on social media, and performance on an effortful pro-environmental behavioural task. Participants also reported their demographic information (e.g., age, gender) and several other independent variables (e.g., political orientation, perceptions about the scientific consensus). In the no-intervention control group, we also measured important additional variables, such as environmentalist identity and trust in climate science. We report the collaboration procedure, study design, raw and cleaned data, all survey materials, relevant analysis scripts, and data visualisations. This dataset can be used to further the understanding of psychological, demographic, and national-level factors related to individual-level climate action and how these differ across countries.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41597-024-03865-1

    View details for PubMedID 39353944

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC11445540

  • Anticonformists catalyze societal transitions and facilitate the expression of evolving preferences. PNAS nexus Mittal, D., Constantino, S. M., Vasconcelos, V. V. 2024; 3 (8): pgae302

    Abstract

    The world is grappling with emerging, urgent, large-scale problems, such as climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and pandemics, which demand immediate and coordinated action. Social processes like conformity and social norms can either help maintain behaviors (e.g. cooperation in groups) or drive rapid societal change (e.g. rapid rooftop solar uptake), even without comprehensive policy measures. While the role of individual heterogeneity in such processes is well studied, there is limited work on the expression of individuals' preferences and the role of anticonformists-individuals who value acting differently from others-especially in dynamic environments. We introduce anticonformists into a game-theoretical collective decision-making framework that includes a complex network of agents with heterogeneous preferences about two alternative options. We study how anticonformists' presence changes the population's ability to express evolving personal preferences. We find that anticonformists facilitate the expression of preferences, even when they diverge from prevailing norms, breaking the "spiral of silence" whereby individuals do not act on their preferences when they believe others disapprove. Centrally placed anticonformists reduce by five-fold the number of anticonformists needed for a population to express its preferences. In dynamic environments where a previously unpopular choice becomes preferred, anticonformists catalyze social tipping and reduce the "cultural lag," even beyond the role of committed minorities-that is, individuals with a commitment to a specific cause. This research highlights the role of dissenting voices in shaping collective behavior, including their potential to catalyze the adoption of new technologies as they become favorable and to enrich democracy by facilitating the expression of views.

    View details for DOI 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae302

    View details for PubMedID 39108299

  • Addressing climate change with behavioral science: A global intervention tournament in 63 countries. Science advances Vlasceanu, M., Doell, K. C., Bak-Coleman, J. B., Todorova, B., Berkebile-Weinberg, M. M., Grayson, S. J., Patel, Y., Goldwert, D., Pei, Y., Chakroff, A., Pronizius, E., van den Broek, K. L., Vlasceanu, D., Constantino, S., Morais, M. J., Schumann, P., Rathje, S., Fang, K., Aglioti, S. M., Alfano, M., Alvarado-Yepez, A. J., Andersen, A., Anseel, F., Apps, M. A., Asadli, C., Awuor, F. J., Azevedo, F., Basaglia, P., Bélanger, J. J., Berger, S., Bertin, P., Białek, M., Bialobrzeska, O., Blaya-Burgo, M., Bleize, D. N., Bø, S., Boecker, L., Boggio, P. S., Borau, S., Bos, B., Bouguettaya, A., Brauer, M., Brick, C., Brik, T., Briker, R., Brosch, T., Buchel, O., Buonauro, D., Butalia, R., Carvacho, H., Chamberlain, S. A., Chan, H. Y., Chow, D., Chung, D., Cian, L., Cohen-Eick, N., Contreras-Huerta, L. S., Contu, D., Cristea, V., Cutler, J., D'Ottone, S., De Keersmaecker, J., Delcourt, S., Delouvée, S., Diel, K., Douglas, B. D., Drupp, M. A., Dubey, S., Ekmanis, J., Elbaek, C. T., Elsherif, M., Engelhard, I. M., Escher, Y. A., Etienne, T. W., Farage, L., Farias, A. R., Feuerriegel, S., Findor, A., Freira, L., Friese, M., Gains, N. P., Gallyamova, A., Geiger, S. J., Genschow, O., Gjoneska, B., Gkinopoulos, T., Goldberg, B., Goldenberg, A., Gradidge, S., Grassini, S., Gray, K., Grelle, S., Griffin, S. M., Grigoryan, L., Grigoryan, A., Grigoryev, D., Gruber, J., Guilaran, J., Hadar, B., Hahnel, U. J., Halperin, E., Harvey, A. J., Haugestad, C. A., Herman, A. M., Hershfield, H. E., Himichi, T., Hine, D. W., Hofmann, W., Howe, L., Huaman-Chulluncuy, E. T., Huang, G., Ishii, T., Ito, A., Jia, F., Jost, J. T., Jovanović, V., Jurgiel, D., Kácha, O., Kankaanpää, R., Kantorowicz, J., Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, E., Kaplan Mintz, K., Kaya, I., Kaya, O., Khachatryan, N., Klas, A., Klein, C., Klöckner, C. A., Koppel, L., Kosachenko, A. I., Kothe, E. J., Krebs, R., Krosch, A. R., Krouwel, A. P., Kyrychenko, Y., Lagomarsino, M., Lamm, C., Lange, F., Lee Cunningham, J., Lees, J., Leung, T. Y., Levy, N., Lockwood, P. L., Longoni, C., López Ortega, A., Loschelder, D. D., Lu, J. G., Luo, Y., Luomba, J., Lutz, A. E., Majer, J. M., Markowitz, E., Marsh, A. A., Mascarenhas, K. L., Mbilingi, B., Mbungu, W., McHugh, C., Meijers, M. H., Mercier, H., Mhagama, F. L., Michalakis, K., Mikus, N., Milliron, S., Mitkidis, P., Monge-Rodríguez, F. S., Mora, Y. L., Moreau, D., Motoki, K., Moyano, M., Mus, M., Navajas, J., Nguyen, T. L., Nguyen, D. M., Nguyen, T., Niemi, L., Nijssen, S. R., Nilsonne, G., Nitschke, J. P., Nockur, L., Okura, R., Öner, S., Özdoğru, A. A., Palumbo, H., Panagopoulos, C., Panasiti, M. S., Pärnamets, P., Paruzel-Czachura, M., Pavlov, Y. G., Payán-Gómez, C., Pearson, A. R., Pereira da Costa, L., Petrowsky, H. M., Pfattheicher, S., Pham, N. T., Ponizovskiy, V., Pretus, C., Rêgo, G. G., Reimann, R., Rhoads, S. A., Riano-Moreno, J., Richter, I., Röer, J. P., Rosa-Sullivan, J., Ross, R. M., Sabherwal, A., Saito, T., Sarrasin, O., Say, N., Schmid, K., Schmitt, M. T., Schoenegger, P., Scholz, C., Schug, M. G., Schulreich, S., Shreedhar, G., Shuman, E., Sivan, S., Sjåstad, H., Soliman, M., Soud, K., Spampatti, T., Sparkman, G., Spasovski, O., Stanley, S. K., Stern, J. A., Strahm, N., Suko, Y., Sul, S., Syropoulos, S., Taylor, N. C., Tedaldi, E., Tinghög, G., Huynh, L. D., Travaglino, G. A., Tsakiris, M., Tüter, İ., Tyrala, M., Uluğ, Ö. M., Urbanek, A., Valko, D., van der Linden, S., van Schie, K., van Stekelenburg, A., Vanags, E., Västfjäll, D., Vesely, S., Vintr, J., Vranka, M., Wanguche, P. O., Willer, R., Wojcik, A. D., Xu, R., Yadav, A., Zawisza, M., Zhao, X., Zhao, J., Żuk, D., Van Bavel, J. J. 2024; 10 (6): eadj5778

    Abstract

    Effectively reducing climate change requires marked, global behavior change. However, it is unclear which strategies are most likely to motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviors. Here, we tested 11 expert-crowdsourced interventions on four climate mitigation outcomes: beliefs, policy support, information sharing intention, and an effortful tree-planting behavioral task. Across 59,440 participants from 63 countries, the interventions' effectiveness was small, largely limited to nonclimate skeptics, and differed across outcomes: Beliefs were strengthened mostly by decreasing psychological distance (by 2.3%), policy support by writing a letter to a future-generation member (2.6%), information sharing by negative emotion induction (12.1%), and no intervention increased the more effortful behavior-several interventions even reduced tree planting. Last, the effects of each intervention differed depending on people's initial climate beliefs. These findings suggest that the impact of behavioral climate interventions varies across audiences and target behaviors.

    View details for DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adj5778

    View details for PubMedID 38324680