Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41455742›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental management2025

Climate Change Denial as Identity Defence: Understanding Resistance Beyond Ignorance.

Ehsan Ebrahimi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental management, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Ehsan EbrahimiFaculty of Agriculture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany. eh.ebrahimi@uni-rostock.de.ORCID 0000-0002-2649-0699

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Climate denial is often misunderstood as ignorance, but evidence from neuroscience reveals it as identity protection. This perspective integrates insights from the neuroscience of belief, emotion, and decision-making into climate communication, arguing that resistance to climate action reflects how people process information, not how much they know. Scientific messages that conflict with people's values or group identities often provoke reinterpretation or rejection of the facts. Climate change is also a uniquely abstract and psychologically distant threat and fear-based appeals often backfire unless paired with agency and clear solutions. More effective communication must be participatory, emotionally intelligent, and grounded in trust, aligning with audience values and reducing psychological threat. Approaches built on empathy, local context, and collaboration can make climate communication not only more persuasive but also transformative.

Indexed as

Climate ChangeDenial, PsychologicalCommunicationHumansBeliefClimate changeCognitive dissonanceEmotionIdentity

Identifiers

PMID41455742
PMCPMC12743663

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.