Students' Willingness to Mitigate Global Warming

Global climate change is one of the most problematic issues facing the world today. Successfully responding to climate change will require citizens who can reason through complex issues involving scientific information. To do this effectively, citizens need to understand how scientific knowledge comes to be established through experiment and observation. Lacking this understanding, decision making may often be influenced more by personal and sociocultural factors rather than by scientific reasoning and understanding. With these issues in mind, this study sought to clarify the factors that influence high-school students' willingness to mitigate global warming. In particular, the author posed two research questions: (1) How are students' beliefs about the validity and nature of global warming science related to willingness to mitigate global warming? (2) How are sociocultural indicators, such as socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity, related to willingness to mitigate global warming?

This study was conducted in a large, diverse school district located on the west coast of Florida. The author administered surveys to 595 students from several high schools across the district. Approximately 20% of the participants attended Title 1 schools, which have high populations of economically disadvantaged students. All students were enrolled in a marine science course, and 90% were juniors or seniors who had taken at least three science courses previously. The researcher chose the marine science students because the class focused explicitly on global warming, climate change, and the nature of science (NOS).

Of the 595 surveys distributed, 490 were returned. Incomplete surveys were discarded, as were surveys that “straight-lined,” or answered all questions with the same answer choice. In the end, 324 surveys were retained for analysis. The survey—the Global Warming Science Attitudes and Actions Survey—included several sections. Those sections addressed the validity of scientists' global warming claims, the nature of global warming science methods, actions students would be willing to take to mitigate global warming, and the participants' demographics. These sections are described in detail below. Several statistical measures were used to successfully confirm the validity and reliability of the survey.

The first section of the survey presented claims from scientists that describe global warming and its impacts. Students were asked to rate the validity of each statement on a 5-point scale, ranging from “Not Valid” to “Very Valid.” The second section contained statements intended to clarify students' perceptions about the methods used by scientists to understand global warming. For example, one statement read, “If scientists cannot conduct controlled experiments in nature, they stand little chance of understanding if and how global warming is occurring.” Again, students were asked to decide the extent to which they agreed with the statement on a 5-point scale, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.” The third section asked students to indicate the extent to which they would commit to various actions in attempts to mitigate global warming, such as recycling, taking public transportation, and reducing meat consumption. Again, a 5-point scale was used. The fourth section collected demographic data, including gender, grade, and ethnicity. Once the data were collected, the author performed a specialized multiple regression on the data that could account for the categorical variables.

Survey results demonstrated the complexity of the factors that influence socioscientific decision making about global warming. The author identified three major findings from the data. First, he identified a complex relationship between self-interest and willingness to mitigate global warming. Generally, participants were less compelled to engage in mitigating actions that were financially, temporally, and personally costly. Approximately 26% of the variation in willingness to partake in relatively low-cost actions—such as recycling or supporting global warming education—was accounted for by students' views about global warming science and sociocultural factors. Essentially, students who agreed with the validity of scientific claims about global warming tended to show willingness to engage in low-cost activities to mitigate global warming. However, this association decreased with choices that were perceived as requiring more personal or financial sacrifice (e.g., those related to meat consumption or the number of children to have). Only 9% of the variation in willingness to partake in higher-impact actions (e.g., higher meat consumption, having more children) could be explained by a belief in the scientific basis of global warming.

The second major finding of this study was that the most important predictor of commitment to taking action was the extent to which participants perceived the validity of scientists' claims on global warming. The more students agreed with the validity of the claims, the more likely they were to commit to taking action. The third major finding of this study involved sociocultural factors and the willingness to mitigate global warming. In this study, gender did not appear to influence the willingness to take mitigating actions. However, ethnicity did appear to have a relationship with students' willingness to take actions that involved energy conservation and major lifestyle choices (such as reduced meat consumption).

This study holds several implications for teaching. Students do not make decisions about their behaviors based solely on their perception of scientific claims. Rather, they consider personal, social, and cultural needs as they navigate these complex problems. In response to these findings, the author suggests two considerations while teaching. First, he suggests that teachers promote an understanding of NOS, which allows students to be flexible as they encounter complex socioscientific issues such as climate change. In particular, he emphasizes an approach that encourages reflection and questioning about the validity of different scientific claims.

Second, he also recommends that students consider how their unique sociocultural experiences influence their decision making about environmental actions. How does their cultural experience, for example, influence their decisions about eating meat or how many children to have? Once students identify and consider their own experience in relation to climate change and similar issues, teachers can then help them use multiple perspectives to go beyond their own experiences. In addition, teachers can help students weigh the implications of their choices and actions while also considering how NOS could contribute to decision making.