Beyond Bias: Group Identity, Wisdom, and the Climate Crisis (with Leaf Van Boven and David Sherman)

Can our political identities get in the way of wise action, even on existential issues like climate change? Leaf Van Boven and David Sherman join Igor and Charles to unpack how we perceive environmental policy through the lenses of group identity and social norms, revealing how misperceptions fuel inaction. Igor considers how group beliefs can override personal values, Leaf explores the power of asking, “What if I’m wrong?”, David suggests we may be following louder voices over wiser ones, and Charles wonders if we’re wired to stick to our “tribe” or if we can really think beyond our social bubbles. Welcome to Episode 61.

• Leaf Van Boven | University of Colorado Boulder
• Environment, Decision, Judgment, and Identity Lab (EDJI) | University of Colorado Boulder
• David Sherman | UC Santa Barbara
• Sherman Lab | UC Santa Barbara
• Social Science Climate Lab
• The connections—and misconnections—between the public and politicians over climate policy: A social psychological perspective - Sherman, Van Boven (2024)
• Social norms explain prioritization of climate policy - Cole, Ehret, Sherman, Van Boven (2022)
• Politicians polarize and experts depolarize public support for COVID-19 management policies across countries - Flores, A., Cole J. C., Dickert S., Eom K., Jiga-Boy G. M., Kogut T., Loria R., Mayorga M., Pedersen E. J., Pereira B., Rubaltelli E., Sherman D. K., Slovic P., Vastfjall D., & Van Boven L. (2022)