Media primarily frames climate change as a threat or disaster, which may dampen public interest and engagement. Does shifting communication strategies to emphasize people’s ability to enact change increase political engagement with climate change? This study examines whether exposure to a news story containing efficacy information is associated with changes in self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and intentions to engage in political activism. Using a quasi-experimental classroom-based design, a single exposure to a news story embedded with efficacy information was not associated with higher levels of any of the three dimensions of political self-efficacy—internal, external, and response—as well as perceived collective efficacy among undergraduate students (N = 731) in a large city in India. Exposure to efficacy information was not associated with intentions to engage in individual or political activism indirectly either. However, internal efficacy, response efficacy, and collective efficacy were positively associated with intentions to engage in individual and collective political action. In addition, perceived collective efficacy mediated the association between internal and response efficacies with collective political action intentions, highlighting the critical role of collective efficacy in collective political action. The findings suggest that while perceived self- and collective efficacies are important for increasing public engagement, they may not be readily amenable to change through single or infrequent exposure to efficacy-oriented messages.
Bhargav et al. (Mon,) studied this question.