Psychology

The essential reference guide for climate communicators, covering cognitive biases, emotional processing, social norms, and the psychology of risk perception. Dense with actionable principles drawn from behavioural science.

Trope & Liberman's foundational theory explains why distance — in time, space, or likelihood — makes everything feel more abstract and easier to ignore. The psychological root beneath nearly every "make climate change feel close" communication strategy.

A values-based framework for communications and campaign strategy, arguing that extrinsic frames undermine long-term behaviour change. Influential in UK NGO and social change circles.

This empirically refined framework sharpens Schwartz's original 10 universal human values theory into a more detailed 19 distinct values, tested across cultures. It accompanies the Common Cause Handbook (2011) above.

A journalist's account of why human psychology is structurally mismatched to the climate threat — covering social identity, loss aversion, and the role of storytelling. Essential for understanding the emotional architecture of denial.

Meta-analysis of 127 fear appeal studies, resolving decades of conflicting findings. Fear motivates action — but only when paired with clear, credible efficacy messages that give audiences a path forward.

Demonstrates that cultural identity, not lack of information, drives climate scepticism. People filter scientific evidence through their worldview — a finding that fundamentally challenges deficit-model approaches to communication.

Accessible guide to the psychology of conspiracy thinking and evidence-based strategies for countering it. Introduces the CONSPIRE framework and the science of effective debunking.

Reviews the psychological distance literature and proposes practical strategies for making climate change feel near, certain, and personally relevant — addressing one of the core barriers to engagement.

Does hope fuel climate action or lull us into inaction? A groundbreaking meta-analysis reveals how different types of hope, from personal efficacy to denial, shape our engagement with the climate crisis.

A landmark experiment testing 11 behavioural interventions across 63 countries. Identifies which psychological levers reliably shift climate beliefs and intentions — and which popular approaches fail at scale.