Influence of social ties to environmentalists on public climate change perceptions

An emerging body of research proposes that climate change concern is shaped by one's social ties and cultural milieu(1-3). This work aligns with findings in the well-established field of social network analysis, whereby individuals are understood as being embedded in social networks, and network position can be used to predict attitudes(4,5). Here we examine whether having ties to environmental movement organization members is correlated with climate change attitudes amongst the general public. We use data from a nationwide survey of the Canadian public to demonstrate that having social ties to environmental organization members increases the likelihood that an individual member of the public has a plan to deal with climate change. These findings reinforce the value of focusing on social context when examining climate change attitudes, and highlight the role that environmental organization members play in mobilizing climate change responses.