Predictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climate
Abstract Some climate activists use nonviolent civil disobedience (NVCD) to protest the slow pace of climate policy action. Civil disobedience theorists posit that building a critical mass of support for and participation in NVCD increases the likelihood of policy success. Here we investigate predic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-06-01
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| Series: | npj Climate Action |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-025-00258-x |
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| _version_ | 1849738089045426176 |
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| author | Patrick O. Ansah Nicholas Badullovich Teresa Myers John Kotcher Seth A. Rosenthal Anthony Leiserowitz Edward Maibach |
| author_facet | Patrick O. Ansah Nicholas Badullovich Teresa Myers John Kotcher Seth A. Rosenthal Anthony Leiserowitz Edward Maibach |
| author_sort | Patrick O. Ansah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Some climate activists use nonviolent civil disobedience (NVCD) to protest the slow pace of climate policy action. Civil disobedience theorists posit that building a critical mass of support for and participation in NVCD increases the likelihood of policy success. Here we investigate predictors of public support for and personal willingness to engage in NVCD using data from a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults (n = 1303). Linear regression analysis revealed the following significant predictors of public willingness to support and engage in NVCD: collective efficacy; anger; identification with climate activists; descriptive norms and exposure to liberal news media. Similarly, all these variables were significant in the relative weight analysis. These findings provide theoretical and practical insights into the role of NVCD in the climate movement. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-754e8ca54a024a5181b04917b5c842f2 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2731-9814 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Climate Action |
| spelling | doaj-art-754e8ca54a024a5181b04917b5c842f22025-08-20T03:06:43ZengNature Portfolionpj Climate Action2731-98142025-06-014111210.1038/s44168-025-00258-xPredictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climatePatrick O. Ansah0Nicholas Badullovich1Teresa Myers2John Kotcher3Seth A. Rosenthal4Anthony Leiserowitz5Edward Maibach6George Mason University, Center for Climate Change CommunicationGeorge Mason University, Center for Climate Change CommunicationGeorge Mason University, Center for Climate Change CommunicationGeorge Mason University, Center for Climate Change CommunicationYale University, Yale Program on Climate Change CommunicationYale University, Yale Program on Climate Change CommunicationGeorge Mason University, Center for Climate Change CommunicationAbstract Some climate activists use nonviolent civil disobedience (NVCD) to protest the slow pace of climate policy action. Civil disobedience theorists posit that building a critical mass of support for and participation in NVCD increases the likelihood of policy success. Here we investigate predictors of public support for and personal willingness to engage in NVCD using data from a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults (n = 1303). Linear regression analysis revealed the following significant predictors of public willingness to support and engage in NVCD: collective efficacy; anger; identification with climate activists; descriptive norms and exposure to liberal news media. Similarly, all these variables were significant in the relative weight analysis. These findings provide theoretical and practical insights into the role of NVCD in the climate movement.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-025-00258-x |
| spellingShingle | Patrick O. Ansah Nicholas Badullovich Teresa Myers John Kotcher Seth A. Rosenthal Anthony Leiserowitz Edward Maibach Predictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climate npj Climate Action |
| title | Predictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climate |
| title_full | Predictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climate |
| title_fullStr | Predictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Predictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climate |
| title_short | Predictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climate |
| title_sort | predictors of willingness to support and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to defend the climate |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-025-00258-x |
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