Psychological inoculation against climate doom
Rachel O’Boyle, Tyler Shores, Sander van der Linden · 2026
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Description
Rachel O'Boyle, Tyler Shores, and Sander van der Linden tested a mental vaccine against climate doom, the bleakest portrayals of climate change flooding social feeds. Doom posts may aim to spur action, yet they can read as manipulation and breed hopelessness instead. Their 2026 preregistered study placed 521 people in a social media simulator. Half first received an inoculation, a short lesson exposing doom tactics, ; all then scrolled a mixed feed.
The inoculated group spotted doom content far more sharply, mainly because they sensed its manipulative intent. Warned users flagged more doom posts and shared fewer. Feeling manipulated also predicted weaker plans to act, whichever group a person was in. The authors say the results cut two ways. Inoculation is a proven tool for critical reading of doom. Communicators should reconsider doom as a mobilizing strategy, since audiences who detect the squeeze disengage.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Rachel O’Boyle, Tyler Shores, Sander van der Linden |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 14 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |