Messages from co-partisan elected officials can increase climate mitigation intentions without changing climate beliefs.

ABSTRACT: Increasing belief in climate change is often considered a prerequisite to motivating climate action. However, partisan polarization has crystallized climate beliefs, and the narrowing window for climate mitigation demands urgent behavior change. This study investigates whether messages from co-partisan elected officials can directly boost intentions to adopt climate-friendly behaviors without changing underlying beliefs about climate change. In two preregistered survey experiments-one on solar panels (n = 9298) and one on electric vehicles (n = 9903)-I find that co-partisan elite messages can increase climate-mitigation intentions among self-reported Republicans and Democrats alike, even though such messages do not affect climate beliefs. Furthermore, I find that messages centering climate

SUBMITTER: Wu VY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12583757 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature