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Multi-Item Scale:

Now follow various statements that some people agree with, but others disagree with. What about you? For each statement, please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree. <br> <i>[Nun folgen verschiedene Aussagen, denen manche Leute zustimmen, die andere aber auch ablehnen. Wie ist das bei Ihnen? Geben Sie bitte zu jeder Aussage an, inwieweit Sie ihr zustimmen oder nicht.]</i>

Item Text:

c. The world climate is currently warming so much that it will have serious consequences for people's lives. [Das Weltklima erwärmt sich mo-mentan so stark, dass es gravie-rende Folgen für das Leben der Menschen haben wird.]

Different Answer Format Tested:

Nein

Findings:

What do respondents think of when answering this item?
The majority of persons agreed "rather" (n = 3) or "completely" (n = 4) with the statement, two persons selected "neither disagree nor agree" and one subject "rather disagree."
For this item, most test persons thought of extreme weather phenomena such as drought, heat, melting of the poles, strong winds, floods as well as water shortages, inflows and outflows:

  • "That the world climate is changing so much. I first thought of Antarctica, where the ice is now melting away. You can see that it can have extreme consequences." (TP 01)
  • "I thought about the fact that there will be unbelievable migration and immigration [...] and [...] immense problems due to climate change. [...] Also any cities that are going to be flooded because the sea level is rising." (TP 04)
  • "That when I go outside the front door here in April, May, I'm almost blown out of my shoes because there's such a strong wind, and that wasn't 15 years ago. And if that continues, I'm going to need lead shoes so I can walk out here. Anyway, it's affecting me in some way." (TP 05)
  • "If the world climate really changes as much as we're already experiencing, that the summers are getting hotter and hotter and drier weather in general, which means water shortages for agriculture and for people, that already has serious consequences." (TP 08)
Two test persons commented that it was not as serious as it was often portrayed:
  • "Because it is just not so blatant, but it is just bad, I say times [...]. We should do something about it, especially we humans, but I don't think that it is so strong that I could say I 'rather disagree' or that I could say I 'rather agree'. That's why I chose 'neither disagree nor agree'." (TP 02, response: neither disagree nor agree)
  • "That's where I traced back what the last few years have been. In my opinion, it can be a little warmer, but not uncomfortable. I agree that we don't have that much influence on the change. Of course, I have to say that, regardless of what is reported in the media, you have to take a more neutral view. There is also a lot of exaggeration." (TP 06, answer: rather disagree)

Recommendations:

No changes recommended.

Question tested:

false