Connecting on climate: Perceived similarity to a climate victim increases the likelihood of donation

Summary:  View help for Summary We collect data from two online experiments to investigate the impact of reading a vignette about a climate change victim on donation behavior, psychological distance of climate change, and how soon participants want action on climate change. The data set for Study 1 was collected via Qualtrics Research Panel and includes data from 1,500 Black and White participants in the United States. The data set for Study 2 was collected via Prolific Research Panel and includes data from 1,263 Black and White participants in the United States. 

Social distance refers to the perceived psychological distance between the self and another person on dimensions such as race and class. Does decreasing social distance with a climate victim increase donations? Here we investigate the effect of manipulating social distance on donation to a climate organization, how soon participants want action on climate change, and psychological distance of climate change. In two online experiments, participants were asked to read a vignette which manipulated the race and income class of a climate victim (Study 1) or where only race was manipulated (Study 2). When participants perceive themselves to be similar to the hypothetical climate victim, they are more likely to donate to a climate organization (Study 2; 46.6% who perceive themselves to be similar versus 34.0% who perceive themselves to be different). We also find that Republican participants who perceive the climate victim as similar want action sooner than Republican participants who view the victim as different. Finally, participants who perceive the victim as similar to themselves also perceive climate change to be less psychologically distant.