Flooded graveyard in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Photo by Peter Gorman

By Lauren Smith and Sarah Wolfe.

Read the full paper here.

Water is essential for survival, yet human-caused climate change threatens consistent water access. Climate change is predicted to increase global water crises through too much water, (like sea-level rise and floods) or too little (like droughts and fires). Coordinated, multi-scaled action is desperately needed, but how these crises are communicated – and how humans respond – can negatively impact processes to find effective, equitable water solutions.

Water crises could easily remind people of their mortality. Mortality awareness can be overwhelming. We’ve developed powerful psychological ‘defenses’ to repress that awareness. These defenses include denial, avoidance, and acting to boost self-esteem or cultural connections. If an environmentalist watched a dire climate change documentary, they may engage in more pro-environmental behaviours, reinforcing their pre-existing worldviews. If a non-environmentalist watched the same film, they may defend against the mortality reminders by engaging in denial-driven individualistic, consumerist behaviours, for instance, buying a larger gasoline-fueled vehicle; eating more meat; flying more frequently. Mortality defenses also nudge us to favour people who are similar to us – and avoid those who are not. This intergroup bias is a problem for water crisis management. Scholars have found that diverse groups generate the most successful water solutions. Life-threatening water communication to these groups may make it challenging for agreements and resolutions to occur.

While social psychologists have studied human responses to mortality for 30+ years, climate change is a relatively new focus. Within that sub-field, our work was the first to examine the relationship between mortality awareness and water. We measured participants’ subconscious death thoughts after they read about one of five scenarios: an explicit mortality reminder (their own death); a neutral-but-painful reminder (a dentist visit); or one of three life-threatening water reminders (drowning, dehydration, contaminated water consumption). We found that drowning and contaminated water reminders, but not dehydration, increased death-thoughts. In other words, these scenarios reminded participants of their mortality, likely activating related defenses.

We have shown that understanding how water problems are communicated, and to whom, is essential to secure the most effective and equitable water solutions. This is particularly important as water crises will increase with climate change. Understanding how to better communicate these crises to specific audiences will ensure necessary environmental actions for the future.