The gateway belief model: A large-scale replication

By S. van der Linden, Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2019

210 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The Gateway Belief Model describes a process of attitudinal change where a shift in people's perception of the scientific consensus on an issue leads to subsequent changes in their attitudes which in turn predict changes in support for public action. In the current study, we present the first large-scale confirmatory replication of the GBM. Specifically, we conducted a consensus message experiment on a national quota sample of the US population (N = 6,301). Results support the mediational hypotheses of the GBM: an experimentally induced change in perceived scientific consensus causes subsequent changes in cognitive (belief) and affective (worry) judgments about climate change, which in turn are associated with changes in support for public action. The scientific consensus message also had a direct effect on support for public action. We further found an interaction with both political ideology and prior attitudes such that conservatives and climate change disbelievers were more likely to update their beliefs toward the consensus. We discuss the model's theoretical and practical implications, including why conveying scientific consensus can help reduce politically motivated reasoning.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8d8d6676e431a288c72938fd1207ca2d7a24cfdf

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In Applied Psychology

In Sociology and Political Science

Citations in the corpus

Countering Misinformation and Fake News Through Inoculation and Prebunking (2021, background): “Acceptance of that consensus had been identified by related research as a “gateway” for attitude change (S. L. van der Linden et al., 2015; Lewandowsky et al., 2013; van der Linden et al., 2019).”
Combatting climate change misinformation: Evidence for longevity of inoculation and consensus messaging effects (2020, unknown): “In contrast, it has been suggested that a more effective way of tackling misinformation is one based on building up resistance before any damage is done (Cook et al., 2017; van der Linden, 2019), an approach called “inoculation” or ‘prebunking’.”
Influencing Climate Change Attitudes in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2020, background): “…(2016) Study 1 Journal article Other 74.60% 47.10% van der Linden, Leiserowitz, Feinberg, and Maibach (2014) Study 1 Journal article SSI 52.00% van der Linden, Leiserowitz, and Maibach (2019) Study 1 Journal article Qualtrics Panel 73.00% 54.00% van der Linden, Leiserowitz, Rosenthal, and…”