Climate change impacts every facet of our lives, including agriculture, one of the most climate-sensitive sectors. Action is needed to mitigate the effects of climate change, and farmers play a critical role in this endeavor. However, a significant challenge lies in the fact that many farmers around the world are not fully engaged in climate change adaptation efforts. This disconnect has often been attributed to psychological biases and other factors that influence how individuals perceive climate change. Dr. Alexa Lamm recently teamed up with global partners Dr. Zobeidi, Dr. Yazdanpanah, Dr. Mirzaei., Dr. Loehr, Dr. Warner, and Dr. Seiber in a recent study conducted in Iran published in Nature’s Scientific Reports. Researchers investigated how psychological distance influenced climate change beliefs, risk perception, and adaptation strategies amongst farmers. The study was conducted in the Dasht-e Azadegan county of Khuzestan province in southwest Iran, a region where agriculture is a vital part of the local economy. A cross-sectional paper-based survey was used to engage 250 farmers. Several findings were of most importance:
- Impact of Psychological Distance: Findings indicated that all four dimensions of psychological distance – spatial, temporal, social, and hypothetical – influenced water management adaptation strategies and non-farm activities. This implies that how close or distant farmers perceive climate change to be plays a significant role in determining their adaptive actions.
- Adaptation in Farming Management: Notably, all psychological dimensions, with the exception of the temporal dimension, also affected adaptation in farming management. In other words, when farmers perceived climate change as a closer and more immediate threat, they were more likely to make changes in their farming practices to address it.
Understanding the role of psychological distance in shaping farmers’ attitudes towards climate change is a valuable insight. It suggests that strategies to make climate change more proximal to farmers can be an effective way to encourage adaptive actions. Furthermore, the concept of psychological distance can be applied to help organizations like agricultural extension services. By understanding farmers’ risk perceptions and responses to climate change impacts, Extension can improve their risk communication and engage farmers more effectively in climate action. The full article can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-32564-x
