Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

11. Collective Efficacy

11.1. Fewer than half of registered voters are confident they can affect what the federal government and corporations do about global warming.

Perceived collective efficacy regarding global warming – the belief that like-minded citizens can work together to influence what government and business leaders do about global warming – is an important motivator for individuals to take collective action.Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 75-78. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00064 Fewer than half of registered voters (42%) are at least “moderately confident” that people like them, working together, can affect what the federal government does about global warming. Similarly, 40% are at least “moderately confident” that people like them, working together, can affect what corporations do about global warming.

Liberal Democrats have the highest perceptions of collective efficacy regarding global warming, while conservative Republicans have the lowest perceptions of collective efficacy, although that may in part be because they are less likely to support action on global warming overall.