Attitudes towards climate change: a systematic review with bibliometric analysis of the literature

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate how attitudes towards climate change are being addressed in scientific publications on the subject. To accomplish this, we conducted a systematic review with bibliometric analysis of the literature in the Scopus database (2018 to 2022). A total of 55 scientific articles were selected. For bibliometric analysis, Microsoft Office Excel and VOSviewer software were used. The studies were systematized into five categories: a) Perception and attitudes related to climate change; b) Attitudes towards climate change in the context of agriculture; c) Political orientation and attitudes towards climate change; d) Beliefs and attitudes regarding climate change; and, e) Attitudes towards climate change in the field of education. The results showed a greater concentration of studies in the areas of environmental, social, earth and planetary sciences. In addition, the indexes of publications by countries evidenced the still incipient debate in the Brazilian context on the theme. Studies on attitudes have contributed to the understanding of perceptions of climate risk, the psychosocial impacts of climate change and the psychological barriers related to climate actions, with education being one of the necessary paths of social intervention and changes in attitudes related to climate change.