A 2011 study by Riley Dunlap explored the demographic make-up of climate deniers found that they are more likely to be conservative white males. And a 2013 study connected climate denial with belief in conspiracy theories. And the psychological reason for buying conspiracy theories is a general feeling of powerlessness in life. The thought being that if you don't have control of your own life, you look for reasons why.
Now a new study out of Finland looks at Facebook networks and found that deniers have fewer friends. Surveying 5,000 Finnish Facebook users, the research showed that those who didn't think climate change was a problem had fewer friends.
So we're developing a more complete profile of the "average" denier- an older conservative white man, believing outlandish conspiracies because of his own feeling of helplessness. Not exactly a surprising revelation to anyone who's engaged with deniers online, but still interesting to see.
Also unsurprising, they're not taking kindly to Charlize Theron's statements that the (feminist) 'Mad Max' reboot is also a climate change warning.
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