Investigating Connections between the Need for Cognitive Closure and Climate Change Concern

Anthropogenic climate change poses a major threat to our planet, and requires collective action to combat. However, denial and misinformation have hindered progress in fighting the climate crisis. It is critical to understand the psychological roots of climate denial so that messages can be designed to better convey risks to a more diverse audience. One way to do this is to examine how personality variables play a role in climate change concern. This study examines the relationships between need for cognitive closure – a variable related to how well one deals with uncertainty – political beliefs, level of concern about the changing climate, and support of various solutions to this issue. Undergraduates at the University of Georgia were surveyed on these topics via Qualtrics. Preliminary results of this study indicate that individuals high in need for cognitive closure tend to worry less about climate change, but are more likely to report that they feel unable to cope with climate change. These results indicate the importance of providing guidance about climate solutions and actions to take to combat climate change.