SPEER24 Survey Report Investigating Climate, Weather, and Energy Attitudes in the United States through the Lens of Social and Psychological Factors

Abstract

Across the United States, shifting seasonal patterns and increasing climate-related extreme weather events have caused billions in property damage, along with human casualties. These weather trends are projected to persist in upcoming decades, with severity depending on global warming levels, bringing more frequent heat waves and an intensified water cycle. This intensification will likely produce more extreme weather, including powerful winter storms, floods, damaging winds, hail, drought conditions, and environments conducive to wildfires (IPCC, 2021). The interconnection between human systems and Earth's natural processes is evident, with human activity now significantly influencing Earth's systems—a relationship that prompted the proposal of the Anthropocene as a new geological era (Crutzen, 2002). The increasing frequency of large-scale disasters and natural catastrophes observed recently and anticipated in the near future places repeated pressure on society's rebuilding and mitigation capabilities while creating uneven vulnerabilities among populations (Thomas et al., 2019). Although some research has examined how natural disasters affect attitudes and behaviors (e.g., Maki et al., 2019; Rudolph & Kuhn, 2018; Sun et al., 2019), most existing studies are limited by small sample sizes and tend to analyze data at aggregate rather than individual levels. Individual-level data are particularly valuable for developing climate-related policies and interventions and for understanding people's willingness to assist others following disasters. To address this data gap, we launched an online survey initiative—beginning with our pilot study, the Social, Political, Earth & Environmental Survey in 2023 (SPEER23)—followed by this 2024 continuation (SPEER24). SPEER 24 includes several modules not included in SPEER 23 (Bedle et al., 2024). For example, we include a module on attitudes about elites which replicates measures from both the 2016 and 2020 ANES. These measures are used to create a populism scale. We also include a large module dealing with media preferences and consumption, which is also modeled on several waves of the ANES. Additionally, we include a full 24-item self-control module (Grasmick et al., 1993). We also include newer modules created by SPEER on attitudes spanning various elements of politics, including political extremism.