| dc.description.abstract | Individual change and systemic change are both important to combat climate change. Given
that citizen’s concerns dictate how climate policies should be presented, this should be
included in research. Therefore, this research will provide an answer to the question: How
does fear of climate change influences the perception of Dutch citizens on whether they are
responsible or the government is responsible for combatting climate change? This will be
done by performing a T-test, a simple regression analysis and a multiple regression analysis
with the variables 1) fear, 2) individual responsibility and 3) government responsibility. The
results show that fear is positively related to individual responsibility and negatively related to
government responsibility. This remains the same when direct fear and indirect fear are
separated, with a stronger effect for direct fear. That being said, the differences are minor.
Based on these findings, I advise policymakers to enable the Dutch to make personal changes
to combat climate change and focus on the direct impact of climate change. For example, by
making organic food available at supermarkets and placing second-hand shops in local
shopping centres, but also by reporting on the effect of these acts. In addition, the minor
differences found indicate that restoring trust in the government might change preferences
towards systemic change. | |
