Sandra J. Geiger (Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria) Sandra J. Geiger Karla A. Garduño-Realivazquez (Department of Accounting, University of Sonora, Mexico) Karla A. Garduño-Realivazquez Christian A. P. Haugestad (Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway) Christian A. P. Haugestad Hirotaka Imada (Research Institute for Future Design, Kochi University of Technology, Japan) Hirotaka Imada Aishwarya Iyer (Department of Psychology, Christ University, India) Aishwarya Iyer Carya Maharja (Yayasan Puspa Hanuman Indonesia, Indonesia) Carya Maharja Daniel C. Mann (Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria) Daniel C. Mann Michalina Marczak (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland) Michalina Marczak Olivia Melville (Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Canada) Olivia Melville Sari R. R. Nijssen (Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria) Sari R. R. Nijssen Nattavudh Powdthavee (Department of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) Nattavudh Powdthavee Radisti A. Praptiwi (Research Center for Ecology and Ethnobiology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia) Radisti A. Praptiwi Gargi Ranade (The Shallow End Collective, Bangalore, India) Gargi Ranade Claudio D. Rosa (Development and Environment, State University of Santa Cruz, Brazil) Claudio D. Rosa Valeria Vitale (Department of Psychology of Developmental and Socialization Processes, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy) Valeria Vitale Małgorzata Winkowska (Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Sweden) Małgorzata Winkowska Lei Zhang (Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom) Lei Zhang Mathew P. White (Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Austria) Mathew P. White Jana K. Köhler (Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria) Jana K. Köhler Zenith N. C. Delabrida (Department of Psychology, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil) Zenith N. C. Delabrida SAGE 2025 Most people believe in human-caused climate change, yet this public consensus can be collectively underestimated (pluralistic ignorance). Across two studies using primary data (n = 3,653 adult participants; 11 countries) and secondary data (ns = 60,230 and 22,496 adult participants; 55 countries), we tested (a) the generalizability of pluralistic ignorance about climate-change beliefs, (b) the effects of a public-consensus intervention on climate action, and (c) the possibility that cultural tightness-looseness might serve as a country-level predictor of pluralistic ignorance. In Study 1, people across 11 countries underestimated the prevalence of proclimate views by at least 7.5% in Indonesia (90% credible interval, or CrI = [5.0, 10.1]), and up to 20.8% in Brazil (90% CrI = [18.2, 23.4]. Providing information about the actual public consensus on climate change was largely ineffective, except for a slight increase in willingness to express one’s proclimate opinion, δ = 0.05 (90% CrI = [−0.02, 0.11]). In Study 2, pluralistic ignorance about willingness to contribute financially to fight climate change was slightly more pronounced in looser than tighter cultures, highlighting the particular need for pluralistic-ignorance research in these countries. PDFDocument deu 2026-02-04T10:31:33.532370Z 2025 Climate Change Pluralistic Ignorance Social Norm Cultural Tightness-looseness Cross-country Generalizability 4124016 b application/pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/