A research team from the University of Michigan and Cornell University conducted a one-year study on 600 American, uncovering three clusters of persons with very distinct climate beliefs:

  1. the “Skeptical” who believed least in climate change
  2. the “Cautiously Worried” who had moderate beliefs in climate change
  3. the “Highly Concerned” who had the strongest beliefs and concern about climate change.

These clusters’ membership predicted different outcomes on the support of individuals for government policies and in their own engagement in  pro-environmental behaviors:

  • the “Highly Concerned” were most supportive of government climate policies, but least likely to report individual-level actions,
  • whereas the “Skeptical” opposed policy solutions but were most likely to report engaging in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors.