Pierluigi Conzo (University of Torino and CCA)

Seminar series “CLOSER, but not quite” – Nudging sustainable behaviours through narratives on climate change: an experimental design

Venue: Campus Luigi Einaudi, room 3 D1 01

Abstract. In recent years, there has been a widespread acknowledgment of the urgent need to combat climate change. Despite this heightened awareness, individuals have changed their sustainable behaviors only marginally. This phenomenon can be attributed to psychological biases, which diminish the perception of climate change consequences as personal and immediate threats, and social norms, which might disincentivize individual cooperation in social dilemmas. This study seeks to delve into the psychological and social determinants of such biases, employing an innovative approach involving information treatment and a modified version of the public good game introduced by Milisnki et al. in 2008. Specifically, our research aims to assess the influence of a rhetoric centered around climate risk for Italians, stemming, directly, from climate disasters or, indirectly, from climate migration. The outcome measures include individuals’ perceptions of climate change risks as well as their environmental preferences, evaluated through survey questions, physiological markers, and money-incentivized behavioral tasks.