Boykoff Chapter 8
Drawing from Viktor Frankl’s work, Boykoff uses this term for the psychological theory that finds the search for meaning to be the primary and most powerful motivating force in human development
What is logotherapy?
This model posits that people use minimal effort and rely on heuristics like value predispositions to filter information.
What is the Cognitive Miser Model?
Experimental results show that Americans view this energy source much more positively than "methane gas," despite the terms referring to the same fossil fuel.
What is "natural gas"?
These two segments of the "Six Americas" are the most passionate and organized "issue publics," though one segment convinces others global warming is urgent while the other believes it is a hoax.
Who are the Alarmed and the Dismissive?
This journalistic norm of providing equal weight to opposing views skewed early 2000s climate coverage by giving a voice to a small number of skeptics.
What is "balance as bias"?
Boykoff cites John Schellnhuber’s term for the environment where short-term thinking and immediate pressures prevent us from addressing long-term climate challenges.
What is the "dictatorship of now"?
This theory explains how well-intended environmental messages can boomerang if they are perceived as threats to an individual’s personal freedom.
What is Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT)?
Using this specific wording instead of "climate change" can increase support for adaptation behaviors and personal protective kits among Republicans.
What is "extreme weather"?
This specific dimension of group identity was the only moderator found to consistently strengthen the link between perceptions of how people actually behave and climate activism intentions.
What is "perceived similarity"?
Because it hosts diverse "communities of practice"—from cat lovers to conspiracy theorists—YouTube is described by Allgaier (2019) using this social science concept.
What is a "boundary object" (or a shared information item that facilitates collaboration between different groups)?
This term refers to a form of confirmation bias where history is read through the lens of present-day concerns rather than the dynamic influences of the past.
What is the presentist paradox?
This theoretical framework proposes that seeing other people do something makes you more likely to want to do it yourself. However, your choice to actually act also depends on if your friends approve, if you think the action will have good results, and if it makes you feel like you belong to the group.
What is the Theory of Normative Social Behavior (TNSB)?
This backfire effect can occur when environmental campaigns provide long lists of easy tasks, which inadvertently makes the receiver feel less efficacious.
What is mitigation overload?
Meta-analytical findings indicate that this demographic factor is a strong negative predictor of nuclear energy acceptance, as these individuals often associate the technology with "accidents".
What is gender (specifically being female)?
This type of news frame focuses on broader societal issues and experts rather than isolated, dramatic instances, and is the dominant frame used in wind energy reporting.
What is a thematic frame?
In 2018, these 17 international goals were reconceptualized as "Good Life Goals" to help empower individuals to take meaningful actions toward sustainability.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
This theory describes how concrete, case-based instances of individuals interacting with an issue are more efficiently processed and retrieved than abstract statistical generalities.
What is Exemplification Theory?
Messages that emphasize this type of consensus as a "dynamic" or changing trend are perceived as more believable by skeptics than static norms.
What is anger (emotional) consensus?
Researchers segmenting public interpretation of fracking images used these three standing attitudes (Support, Oppose, and Undecided) to compare the relationship between these two values.
What are "economic competitiveness" or "environmental destruction"?
This specific role conception, which involves investigating official claims and analyzing complex problems, is prioritized more highly by environmental journalists than by their employers.
What is the interpretive role?
According to Maria Ojala and Yuliya Lakew, young people are particularly vulnerable to experiencing this mental state when facing global warming.
What is negative affect (or despair/anxiety)?
This theory serves as a framework for understanding why environmental journalists may experience tension between their individual role conceptions and the expectations of their organization.
What is Social Identity Theory (SIT)?
A social media study on invasive species found that this straightforward, factual message frame was more cost-effective than using metaphorical militaristic or nativist frames.
What is the Science frame?
Strategic communicators identify this "Six Americas" segment as the optimal target audience for organizations trying to engage political conservatives with free-market climate solutions.
Who are the Cautious?
This 1972 image is a prime example of a visualization that acts as a "picture frame," strategically communicating the vulnerability of the entire earth.
What is the "(Pale) Blue Marble"?