Author ORCID Identifier:

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8963-6987

Date of Graduation

7-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Political Science (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Political Science

Advisor/Mentor

Song, Geoboo

Committee Member

Schreckhise, William

Second Committee Member

Button, Eric

Keywords

City, Climate Risk, Climate Change, Arkansas, Perceptions

Abstract

Perceptions of climate change risk are shaped by both individual-level factors, such as cultural worldviews, party identification, and demographic characteristics, as well as by local environmental and contextual characteristics. This study, conducted in Arkansas, employed both individual- and city-level analyses to assess the influence of local context on variation in climate change risk perception. At the city level, measures of climate policy environment, digital infrastructure, civic and resource context, political landscape, and climate-related vulnerability were developed and compared across Arkansas cities. At the individual level, the analysis explored associations between cultural worldviews, party identification, demographic variables, and climate risk perception. Integrating these two levels of analysis enabled an evaluation of whether city-level environments account for additional variation in risk perception beyond individual-level predictors and whether city context conditions the relationship between cultural worldviews and climate risk perception. The results indicate that cultural worldviews are the most consistent predictors of climate risk perception, and that the city-level climate policy environment amplifies the positive association between egalitarianism and climate risk perception. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how local context and policy environments interact with individual-level factors to shape perceptions of climate-related risk.

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