UC Santa Barbara

Using the framework of Construal Level Theory, we examine if concern about extreme weather—assessed at the aggregate level via Google search frequencies within the U.S.— in one’s geographic region is related to people feeling less distant from climate change and consequently engaging in more pro-environmental support. We assess a range of pro-environmental outcomes including beliefs about climate change, support for mitigation policies, and environmental behaviors. In Study 1 we externally validated Google search as a measure of weather concern, finding that in U.S. states where objective exposure to extreme weather was greater, search volumes for that respective weather type were greater. In Study 2 combining 4 national datasets (n > 22,000), we examined if extreme weather concern would predict regional levels of climate change beliefs and policy support. Controlling for search-based and demographic variables, extreme weather concern predicted beliefs but not policy support. In Study 3 (N = 2538), we examined if individuals who lived in states where there is greater extreme weather concern would feel less psychologically distant from climate change, and if this reduced distance would lead to greater pro-environmental support. Regional concern was found to predict individuals’ sustainability behaviors but not their policy support or prioritization of climate change as a social issue. Lower psychological distance mediated the effect of regional weather concern on self-reported behaviors. This research advances two new methodological approaches to progress climate science: the use of Google search terms to operationalize extreme weather concern and a measure of psychological distance to climate disasters.

Keywords: sustainability, climate change, construal level theory, attitudes and social influence, applied social psychology