Doctoral Dissertation Research: Trust-Building Communication and Climate Decision Making

A lack of public trust in governance institutions such as governments, federal agencies, and public health organizations limits national capacities to mitigate climate-related risks. The Environmental Protection Agency has declared rebuilding public trust critical to its mission of protecting public and environmental health. Trustworthy sources of risk information are more persuasive and more likely to motivate adaptive behaviors. This dissertation joins national leaders like the EPA in this effort by building theory and messaging strategies to increase trust in climate governance. Trust-building communication about environmental health risks can both repair public perceptions of climate leadership organizations and promote climate adaptive behaviors. Accordingly, this dissertation addresses relational and translational challenges of science communication to support public health and safety by making climate science more accessible to communities at-risk from extreme heat. This project develops and applies a theory-driven model of trust determination to create strategic messaging recommendations for public-facing climate communicators. The project develops conceptually and empirically supported measurements for public trust in governance and tests trust-building messaging strategies using randomized controlled trials in the context of extreme heat preparedness. Comparison of persuasive outcomes between messages with high and low indicators of trustworthiness measures the strategies’ efficacy. Further the work identifies best practices for tailored messaging based on an audience’s prior climate-change beliefs. This dissertation yields practical guidelines about communicating pertinent information about climate risks while building trust in governance. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.