Climate Change Denial and Cognitive Biases: Psychological Insights into Resistance to Environmental Policies

Abstract

This research examines the psychological and social determinants of climate denial, i.e., cognitive bias, political identity, and misinformation. Quantitative in design, data were collected from 240 students and teachers in psychology, environmental science, and political science through a Likert-scale survey. The results show a positive correlation between cognitive biases and climate change beliefs (r = 0.331, p < 0.01) and a correlation between social identity and climate policy resistance (r = 0.159, p < 0.05). Regression results also confirm that political identity weakly but significantly influences climate change beliefs (β = 0.114, p = 0.082). The research shows evidence of misinformation and media influence and how the acceptance of biased information is found to enhance skepticism toward climate change. The results suggest that climate communication should be aware of motivated reasoning, ideological biases, and online misinformation to facilitate more environmental policy acceptance. Future research should explore targeted interventions for the prevention of climate misinformation and the promotion of evidence-based decision-making.