Editing Pluralistic ignorance (section)

=== Public concern for climate change ===
Pluralistic ignorance has also been blamed for large majorities of the public remaining silent on climate change—while 'solid majorities' of the American and UK public are concerned about climate change, most erroneously believe they are in the minority with their concern.<ref name="Climate of Silence">{{cite journal |last1=Geiger |first1=Nathaniel |last2=Swim |first2=Janet K |title=Climate of silence: Pluralistic ignorance as a barrier to climate change discussion |journal=Journal of Environmental Psychology |date=September 2016 |volume=47 |pages=79–90 |doi=10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.05.002 |url=https://climateaccess.org/sites/default/files/Climate%20of%20silence-%20Pluralistic%20ignorance%20as%20a%20barrier%20tClimate%20of%20silence-%20Pluralistic%20ignorance%20as%20a%20barrier%20to%20climate%20change%20discussiono%20climate%20change%20discussion.pdf |access-date=4 September 2018|doi-access=free}}</ref> It has been suggested that [[pollution]]-intensive industries have contributed to the public's underestimation of public support for climate solutions.<ref name="Second-Order Opinions for Climate Politics">{{cite journal |last1=Mildenberger |first1=Matto |last2=Tingley |first2=Dustin |title=Beliefs about Climate Beliefs: The Importance of Second-Order Opinions for Climate Politics |journal=British Journal of Political Science |date=December 2017 |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=1279–1307 |doi=10.1017/S0007123417000321 |url=https://climateadvocacylab.org/system/files/mildenbergertingley_bjps.pdf |access-date=4 September 2018}}</ref> For example, in the U.S., support for [[pollution pricing]] is high,<ref name="Politics and Global Warming, March 2018">{{cite web |last1=Leiserowitz |first1=A |last2=Maibach |first2=E |last3=Roser-Renouf |first3=C |last4=Cutler |first4=M |last5=Kotcher |first5=J |title=Politics and Global Warming, March 2018 |url=http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-March-2018.pdf |publisher=Yale University and George Mason University |access-date=4 September 2018}}</ref><ref name="Yale Climate Opinion Maps">{{cite web |last1=Marlon |first1=Jennifer |last2=Howe |first2=Peter |last3=Mildenberger |first3=Matto |last4=Leiserowitz |first4=Anthony |last5=Wang |first5=Xinran |title=Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2018 |url=http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us-2018/?est=reducetax&type=value&geo=cd |website=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |access-date=4 September 2018 |archive-date=1 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001120027/https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us-2018/?est=reducetax&type=value&geo=cd |url-status=dead }}</ref> yet public perception of public support is much lower.<ref name="Second-Order Opinions for Climate Politics" />

In August 2022, ''[[Nature Communications]]'' published a survey with 6,119 [[Sampling (statistics)|representatively sampled]] Americans that found that 66 to 80% of Americans supported major climate change mitigation policies (i.e. [[100% renewable energy]] by 2035, [[Green New Deal]], [[Carbon fee and dividend|carbon tax and dividend]], renewable energy production siting on [[public land]]) and expressed climate concern, but that 80 to 90% of Americans underestimated the prevalence of support for such policies and such concern by their fellow Americans (with the sample estimating that only 37 to 43% on average supported such policies). Americans in every state and every assessed demographic (e.g. [[Political ideologies in the United States|political ideology]], [[Race and ethnicity in the United States|racial group]], [[List of United States urban areas|urban]]/[[suburb]]an/[[Rural areas in the United States|rural]] residence, [[Educational attainment in the United States|educational attainment]]) underestimated support across all policies tested, and every state survey group and every demographic assessed underestimated support for the climate policies by at least 20 percentage points. The researchers attributed the misperception among the general public to pluralistic ignorance. Conservatives were found to underestimate support for the policies due to a [[false consensus effect]], [[Red states and blue states#Polarization|exposure to more conservative local norms]], and consumption of [[Media bias in the United States#Conservative|conservative news]], while liberals were suggested to underestimate support for the policies due to a [[false-uniqueness effect]].<ref name="NatureComms_20220823" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Clifford |first=Catherine |date=August 24, 2022 |title=Americans don't think other Americans care about climate change as much as they do |publisher=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/24/americans-underestimate-how-much-their-peers-care-about-climate-change.html |access-date=August 27, 2022}}</ref>