https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4870 What We Think Others Think and Do About Climate Change: A Multicountry Test of Pluralistic Ignorance and Public-Consensus Messaging Geiger, Sandra J. Sandra J. Geiger 0000-0002-3262-5609 Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria Garduño-Realivazquez, Karla A. Karla A. Garduño-Realivazquez 0000-0002-5199-9163 Department of Accounting, University of Sonora, Mexico Haugestad, Christian A. P. Christian A. P. Haugestad 0000-0001-6787-1992 Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway Imada, Hirotaka Hirotaka Imada 0000-0003-3604-4155 Research Institute for Future Design, Kochi University of Technology, Japan Iyer, Aishwarya Aishwarya Iyer 0000-0002-8277-8830 Department of Psychology, Christ University, India Maharja, Carya Carya Maharja 0000-0001-9581-8283 Yayasan Puspa Hanuman Indonesia, Indonesia Mann, Daniel C. Daniel C. Mann 0000-0002-6260-8615 Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria Marczak, Michalina Michalina Marczak 0000-0002-2270-811X School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland Melville, Olivia Olivia Melville 0009-0004-5024-7105 Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Canada Nijssen, Sari R. R. Sari R. R. Nijssen 0000-0002-0340-8509 Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria Powdthavee, Nattavudh Nattavudh Powdthavee 0000-0002-9345-4882 Department of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Praptiwi, Radisti A. Radisti A. Praptiwi 0000-0002-1657-6982 Research Center for Ecology and Ethnobiology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia Ranade, Gargi Gargi Ranade The Shallow End Collective, Bangalore, India Rosa, Claudio D. Claudio D. Rosa 0000-0002-1939-2716 Development and Environment, State University of Santa Cruz, Brazil Vitale, Valeria Valeria Vitale 0000-0003-1073-3390 Department of Psychology of Developmental and Socialization Processes, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Winkowska, Małgorzata Małgorzata Winkowska Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Sweden Zhang, Lei Lei Zhang 0000-0002-9586-595X Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom White, Mathew P. Mathew P. White 0000-0002-4168-7289 Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Austria Köhler, Jana K. Jana K. Köhler 0000-0002-1581-3202 Environmental Psychology Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria Delabrida, Zenith N. C. Zenith N. C. Delabrida 0000-0003-1878-6040 Department of Psychology, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil SAGE journal article open access deu 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. Climate Change Pluralistic Ignorance Social Norm Cultural Tightness-looseness Cross-country Generalizability http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:4870/download 10.1177/09567976251335585 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:605 application/pdf Psychological Science issn:0956-7976 VoR Psychological Science 36 6 421 442 3.93 MB 2025