Maidah Haidri Z7399458

Critical evaluation essay

Critically evaluate the following opinion article from Ensia Online. In your answer, provide
a discussion of the claims and advice given by the author of the article, drawing upon
what psychologists know about people’s attitudes and actions in relation to
environmental crises and human decision-making processes. Is the advice given
supported by relevant psychological theory?

The author argues that instead of trying to convince climate change deniers, efforts should
be directed towards mobilizing the passive allies who already believe in the reality of
climate change, but are not taking action. The author highlights the challenges of behaviour
change and cites research showing that presenting scientific facts may not be effective in
changing deeply held beliefs about climate change. Furthermore, the author points out that
creating change does not require everyone to act, but rather a critical mass of people. The
author suggests using the Spectrum of Allies framework to focus on the 17% of people who
are cautious and not taking action, rather than trying to convince the 18% who are doubtful
and dismissive.

The advice given by the author is supported by relevant psychological theory. The article
cites the "information deficit model" of communication, which suggests that simply
presenting scientific facts to people is often not enough to change their beliefs or behaviour.
This is consistent with research on motivated reasoning, which shows that people often
selectively attend to and interpret information in a way that supports their pre-existing
beliefs. Therefore, attempting to change someone's beliefs about climate change may be
difficult, especially if they are deeply held.

The article also suggests that focusing on passive allies, rather than deniers, is more
effective in creating change. This is consistent with the social psychology concept of
"pluralistic ignorance," which occurs when individuals privately hold a particular belief or
attitude but do not express it publicly because they believe that others do not share their
views. By mobilizing passive allies, we can create a sense of social consensus and make it
easier for individuals to express their beliefs and take action.

Furthermore, the article cites research showing that creating change does not require
everyone to act, but rather a critical mass of people. This is consistent with the concept of
"social proof," which suggests that people are more likely to engage in a particular
behaviour if they perceive that others are doing the same. By mobilizing a critical mass of
people, we can create a sense of social normativity around taking action on climate change,
which can help to overcome the barriers to behaviour change.

In the article, the author argues that trying to convince opponents of climate change to
believe in the reality of the issue is often not effective. Instead, the author suggests that it is
more productive to focus on motivating and mobilizing individuals who are already aware of
climate change and may be more likely to take action. The author cites research that
suggests that presenting scientific facts alone, the “information deficit model” of
communication, is often not effective in changing deeply held beliefs about climate change.
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The author also highlights the challenge of behaviour change, drawing on their experience
as a physician in helping patients quit smoking. The author suggests that the process of
convincing people to take action on climate change involves multiple steps, including
convincing people that climate change is real, that humans are causing it, and motivating
them to take action. The author also points out that it is not necessary to convince everyone
of the reality of climate change in order to create change. Drawing on historical examples
such as the Civil Rights movement, the author suggests that it may only take a small
percentage of the population actively participating in civil protests to cause real political
change.

The author recommends a shift in communication strategies from trying to change minds to
giving people already on-board concrete tasks on which to take action. The author suggests
using a tool called the “Spectrum of Allies” to identify and target individuals who may be
neutral about an issue or passively agree with it but have not taken action. The author
suggests that focusing on these groups may be more effective than trying to convince
vehement opponents.

Overall, the advice given by the author is supported by relevant psychological theory. By
focusing on mobilizing passive allies and creating a critical mass of people taking action on
climate change, we can create a sense of social consensus and normativity that can help to
overcome the challenges of behaviour change. The author's argument is consistent with
psychological research on persuasion and behaviour change. Research suggests that
presenting scientific facts alone is often not sufficient to change deeply held beliefs, and that
people are more likely to be motivated to take action when they perceive the issue as
personally relevant and when they believe that their actions can make a difference. The
author's emphasis on identifying and mobilizing individuals who are already aware of
climate change and may be more likely to take action is also consistent with psychological
research on social influence, which suggests that individuals are more likely to be influenced
by those who are similar to them and whom they perceive as credible and trustworthy.

The article “Instead of wasting time trying to convert opponents, we should invest it in
motivating passive allies to act” by Dr. Nadia Gaber argues that rather than trying to
convince climate change deniers, efforts should be focused on motivating those who are
neutral or passive about the issue to take action. The author believes that using the
“information deficit model” of communication, which involves presenting scientific facts, is
often ineffective in changing deeply held beliefs about climate change. The article also
suggests using the advocacy tool called the “Spectrum of Allies” to identify individuals who
are neutral or passive about the issue and providing them with concrete tasks to take
action.

The author’s argument is supported by psychological theories about attitudes and human
decision-making processes. Research has shown that presenting scientific facts alone is
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often not effective in changing attitudes or beliefs, especially when they are deeply held.
This is known as the “information deficit model” of communication, where it is assumed
that people will change their attitudes and behaviour once they have access to information
that challenges their beliefs. However, this model fails to consider other factors that shape
attitudes and behaviour, such as social norms, values, and emotions.

Psychologists have also found that attitudes and behaviour are often influenced by social
norms, which are unwritten rules that guide behaviour within a group. People tend to
conform to social norms because they want to be accepted and valued by others. This
means that if a person’s social network is supportive of action on climate change, they are
more likely to take action themselves. The “Spectrum of Allies” tool suggested in the article
is a way to identify individuals who are neutral or passive about the issue but may be more
likely to take action if they see others doing so.

Another factor that influences attitudes and behaviour is values. People’s values shape their
beliefs and attitudes about various issues, including climate change. For example, people
who value social justice may be more likely to support action on climate change because
they see it as an issue that disproportionately affects marginalized communities. The
article’s suggestion to connect with others on shared values rather than trying to convince
them of the reality of climate change is based on the idea that people are more likely to
take action when it aligns with their values.

The article’s argument is also supported by research on the stages of behaviour change. The
author uses the example of smokers to illustrate the difficulty of behaviour change. Even
when people are aware of the harms of smoking, it can take a long time for them to move
from the stage of “pre-contemplation” to the “action” phase of quitting smoking. Similarly,
convincing people to take action on climate change requires more than just presenting them
with information about the issue. It requires understanding where they are in the process of
behaviour change and providing them with the resources and support, they need to move
towards action.

However, the article could benefit from a more nuanced discussion of the role of persuasion
in climate communication. While it is true that presenting scientific facts alone is often
ineffective, persuasion can still play a role in changing attitudes and behaviour. Persuasion
involves using various strategies to change people’s attitudes or behaviour, such as
appealing to emotions, using social norms, or framing messages in a way that resonates
with people’s values. These strategies can be effective in changing attitudes and behaviour,
but they need to be used in conjunction with other approaches, such as providing concrete
tasks for action, as suggested in the article.

The article cites relevant psychological theory to support the idea that focusing on passive
allies can be more effective than trying to change the minds of deniers. For example, the
Spectrum of Allies framework suggests that the most effective way to create social change is
to convince neutral or passively agreeing people to support a cause, rather than vehement
opponents. Additionally, Erica Chenoweth’s analysis of nonviolent campaigns found that it
takes only around 3.5% of the population actively participating in civil protests to cause real
political change.
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However, while the article provides some valid arguments and relevant psychological theory
to support its claims, it does not provide a comprehensive overview of the relevant research
in this area. While the “information deficit model” of communication may not be effective in
changing deeply held beliefs, there is evidence to suggest that providing information can still
be important in motivating behaviour change. For example, a meta-analysis of 242 studies
found that providing information can be effective in promoting pro-environmental
behaviour change, particularly when combined with other interventions such as feedback
and goal-setting (Abrahamse et al., 2005).

Additionally, while it is true that behaviour change can be difficult, there are also factors
that can facilitate behaviour change. For example, social norms and social influence can play
a role in promoting pro-environmental behaviour (Cialdini, 2003), and interventions that tap
into these factors have been found to be effective in promoting behaviour change (Nolan et
al., 2008).

Therefore, while the article’s suggestion to focus on motivating passive allies is not without
merit, it is important to recognize that a more comprehensive approach that takes into
account a range of psychological factors may be more effective in promoting pro-
environmental behaviour change. This could include a combination of providing
information, tapping into social norms and social influence, and targeting different audience
segments with tailored messages and interventions.

The Ensia Online article argues that instead of wasting time trying to convince climate
change deniers, we should focus on motivating passive allies to take action. The author
suggests that presenting scientific facts, the “information deficit model” of communication,
is often not effective in changing deeply held beliefs about climate change. The article claims
that people’s attitudes and actions in relation to environmental crises and human decision-
making processes are complex, and that behaviour change is difficult, as seen with smokers
who are well aware of the harms of cigarettes but take a long time to quit.

In conclusion, while the article raises some valid points and highlights the importance of
focusing on behaviour change, it is important to recognize that there is still a need for a
range of communication strategies and interventions to promote pro-environmental
behaviour change. Drawing on relevant psychological theory and research, a more
comprehensive approach that targets different audience segments with tailored messages
and interventions may be more effective in promoting behaviour change than simply
focusing on motivating passive allies.

References:

Abrahamse, W., Steg, L., Vlek, C., & Rothengatter, T. (2005). A review of intervention studies
aimed at household energy conservation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25(3), 273-
291.

Cialdini, R. B. (2003). Crafting normative messages to protect the environment. Current

Directions in Psychological Science, 12(4), 105-109.
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Nolan, J. M., Schultz, P. W., Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J., & Griskevicius, V. (2008).
Normative social influence is underdetected. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
34(7), 913-923.