Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire
On Show 2020
Naoise Woods

This Major Research Project sought to bridge the gap between psychological and environmental research by experimentally examining the impact of message framing on environmental behavior.

Abstract: There exist various techniques by which to communicate the increasingly pressing Global topic of Climate Change to the public. The between-subjects, mixed-methodological study at hand, experimentally examined the effect of two distinct message frames (Death-related, Empathic) on self-reported, environmental behavioural intentions. Environmental Identity was identified as a potentially confounding variable. Qualitative responses were gathered and analysed for thematic commonalities. Seventy-eight participants who took part in the experiment (47 Male, 31 Female), were aged 18-54 years old (M = 23, SD = 6.045). A one-way ANCOVA was conducted and no significant statistical difference was observed in the effect of the message frames. Environmental Identity was significantly related to pro-environmental behaviour F(1, 75) = 22.701,
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