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Report

The Value of Explanation: Using Values and Causal Explanations to Reframe Climate and Ocean Change

This report details the results of a survey of U.S. voters that explores the extent to which values-based messages affect attitudes about climate change.
Authors
Andrew Volmert , Nat Kendall-Taylor , Adam Simon, Alexis Bunten
Published
September 25, 2014
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This report details the results of an experimental survey of more than 7,000 registered U.S. voters that explores the extent to which values-based messages and explanatory statements affect attitudes about climate and ocean change and support for relevant policies. The experiment demonstrates the power of the values of Protection and Responsible Management to move attitudes and policy opinions about these issues in productive directions, and describes how the value of Protection is particularly powerful when paired with discussions of the human health impacts of climate change. The report also finds that Explanatory Chains—clear causal descriptions of the processes that connect determinants to outcomes—increase the effectiveness of messages.