Does the use of media and other information sources cause the perceived experience of climate change or is it the other way around?

• Main Authors: ROSENTHAL, Sonny, AI, Pengya
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: Climate action; interpersonal communication; media use; perceived experience; reinforcing spirals; Asian Studies; Communication Technology and New Media; Environmental Sciences; Nature and Society Relations; Social Media
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cis_research/181
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The perceived experience of climate change can be an important motivator of individual climate action. Recent scholarship argued that the use of media and other information sources is a basis of perceived experience. The current study analyzed a cross-lagged panel model to know if the use of information causes perceived experience or vice versa. Analysis of longitudinal data from a sample of Singapore residents (N = 466) showed that the use of traditional media, but not social media or interpersonal sources, explained change in perceived experience. In contrast, perceived experience explained change in the use of traditional media and interpersonal communication. We discuss these findings vis-à-vis the reinforcing spirals model of media effects and offer practical insights for climate change communicators, especially journalists.