Jarren Nylund
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jarrennylund.bsky.social
Jarren Nylund
@jarrennylund.bsky.social
630 followers 910 following 44 posts
🎓 PhD Candidate (Social/Environmental Psychology)
🌱 Member of @GreenpeaceAP.bsky.social’s General Assembly
🌏 @ClimateRealityProject.org Leader
💁🏻‍♂️ Pronouns: He/him
🔗 Find me on other platforms: bio.site/jarrennylund
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jarrennylund.bsky.social
Last week I had the pleasure of presenting at the 2025 Collective Action Network (CAN) Meeting on my recent research into the climate activist’s dilemma.
The climate activist's dilemma: Extreme climate protests reduce movement support but raise climate concern and intentions. Jarren L. Nylund, Michael Thai, Matthew J. Hornsey. Net Zero Observatory, Business School, The University of Queensland. School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.
September 28, 2025 at 7:22 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Thanks for sharing these links, Ketan. I imagine that each subsequent version is generally getting better, but will never be perfect (pictured is how it was explained to us). But yeah, definitely share your concern about the corporate aspect of the technology.
September 23, 2025 at 3:13 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
This paper is the product of a team effort from members of the Net Zero Observatory. I’m grateful to have worked alongside such talented colleagues: business.uq.edu.au/research/net...
A mock-up of what the second spread of “The promise and limitations of using GenAI to reduce climate scepticism” (Hornsey et al., 2025) article would look like printed.
September 21, 2025 at 5:49 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Across two studies, we found that short conversations with ChatGPT led climate sceptics to report lower confidence in their sceptical views and small increases in pro-environmental intentions.

You can read the article here:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
A mock-up of what the first spread of “The promise and limitations of using GenAI to reduce climate scepticism” (Hornsey et al., 2025) article would look like printed.
September 21, 2025 at 5:49 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Thrilled to share my first publication in a Nature journal!

Our new article in Nature Climate Change (@natclimate.nature.com) explores whether conversations with generative AI tools like ChatGPT may help shift climate scepticism.
A mock-up of what the first page of “The promise and limitations of using GenAI to reduce climate scepticism” (Hornsey et al., 2025) article would look like printed.
September 21, 2025 at 5:49 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Pleased to announce that I successfully passed my PhD confirmation milestone at The University of Queensland (UQ) last week.

Excited to be continuing my research into factors that influence public perceptions of climate protests.
A photo of a UQ meeting room with a television mounted on the wall. The screen displays the title slide of Jarren Nylund’s PhD confirmation presentation: “Factors That Influence Public Perceptions of Climate Change Protests”
September 8, 2025 at 5:55 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
But here's the twist, those same extreme tactics can also make people more concerned about climate change and more willing to act on it.

It’s a complex trade-off that we have called the climate activist’s dilemma: doi.org/10.1016/j.je...
Photo of the article titled “The climate activist’s dilemma: Extreme protests reduce movement support but raise climate concern and intentions”. It is authored by Jarren L. Nylund, Michael Thai, and Matthew J. Hornsey, and published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. Abstract: Some members of the climate movement advocate for disruptive tactics, including mass civil disobedience, in the effort to pressure governments to address anthropogenic climate change. However, prior research on the “activist's dilemma” suggests that extreme protest actions may reduce public support for a movement. The present research aimed to discover if these findings would replicate within the highly moralised context of climate change, and explore target deservingness as a potential moderator. Across two studies, with Australian psychology students (Study 1; N = 178) and a politically representative sample from the United Kingdom (Study 2; N = 511), participants perceived climate activists engaging in extreme (vs. moderate) protests to be more immoral, felt less emotional connection and identification with them, and supported the movement less. However, Study 2 found that extreme (vs. moderate) protests also heightened climate concern and intentions to take climate-related actions. These findings highlight a “climate activist's dilemma”: while extreme tactics may reduce support for the activist groups who engage in such tactics, they may simultaneously raise climate concern and personal intentions to act.
July 24, 2025 at 7:43 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Proud to share my first lead-author publication, now out in the Journal of Environmental Psychology!

We found that extreme climate protests (like blockades and defacing property with paint) can backfire by reducing support for the climate movement.
Photo of the article titled “The climate activist’s dilemma: Extreme protests reduce movement support but raise climate concern and intentions”. It is authored by Jarren L. Nylund, Michael Thai, and Matthew J. Hornsey, and published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. Abstract: Some members of the climate movement advocate for disruptive tactics, including mass civil disobedience, in the effort to pressure governments to address anthropogenic climate change. However, prior research on the “activist's dilemma” suggests that extreme protest actions may reduce public support for a movement. The present research aimed to discover if these findings would replicate within the highly moralised context of climate change, and explore target deservingness as a potential moderator. Across two studies, with Australian psychology students (Study 1; N = 178) and a politically representative sample from the United Kingdom (Study 2; N = 511), participants perceived climate activists engaging in extreme (vs. moderate) protests to be more immoral, felt less emotional connection and identification with them, and supported the movement less. However, Study 2 found that extreme (vs. moderate) protests also heightened climate concern and intentions to take climate-related actions. These findings highlight a “climate activist's dilemma”: while extreme tactics may reduce support for the activist groups who engage in such tactics, they may simultaneously raise climate concern and personal intentions to act.
July 24, 2025 at 7:40 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
🌍🔥 These warming stripes represent the Earth's average temperature from 1850 to 2024.

The pattern couldn’t be clearer, climate change is here, and it’s accelerating.

Today is #ShowYourStripes day. Let’s show the stripes and commit to taking action on climate change: showyourstripes.info
Global temperature change relative to average of 1961–2010 [°C].
June 21, 2025 at 6:03 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Why do people fight for or against climate action?

Led by Prof. Matthew J. Hornsey, our new review article published in Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences delves into the moral arguments of collective climate action—on both sides of the debate: doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
Moral cases for collective action supporting and opposing mitigation efforts
May 11, 2025 at 4:29 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Feeling privileged to have received a Top Cited Article certificate from the British Journal of Social Psychology for co-authoring one of their top 10 most-cited papers published in 2023.
An image of Thai and Nylund’s (2024) top cited article: Thai, M., & Nylund, J. L. (2024). What are they in it for? Marginalised group members' perceptions of allies differ depending on the costs and rewards associated with their allyship. British Journal of Social Psychology, 63(1), 131–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12670
March 21, 2025 at 6:01 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
A new article in The Conversation summarising research on how unconventional climate advocates can reach new audiences to grow the climate movement: theconversation.com/farmers-inve...
[Screen shot of article from The Conversation] Farmers, investors, miners and parents: how unconventional climate advocates can reach new audiences
February 24, 2025 at 11:54 PM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
𝟭𝟭 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼, 𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 "𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗼" 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿.

Since then, it’s been featured by 𝘚𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 and in an 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤 journal article—both discussing how climate skeptics likening themselves to Galileo is completely backwards.
Poster displaying an image of Galileo Galilei with text overlaid which reads: "If you're waiting for a modern-day Galileo to find new evidence which proves that global warming is wrong, it's like waiting for someone to find new evidence which proves that the Earth is flat."
February 1, 2025 at 12:44 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
As the U.S. withdraws from the Paris Agreement, they’re being left behind as the rest of the world continues to push for climate solutions.
The Trump Administration's intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement turns a blind eye to the environmental and economic realities of the climate crisis, as well as the opportunities of the clean energy revolution. This action puts Americans families in greater danger from climate-driven natural disasters while having to bear the ever-rising costs of inaction. The global transition to clean energy is a path to prosperity with over 400,000 new clean energy jobs and $422 billion 1] in investments in the US announced since August 2022. The US retreat risks workers and businesses being left behind —with market opportunities projected to reach $2 trillion by 2035[2]. Other nations will act together to determine the path and pace of reducing emissions. In the face of this ill-fated decision and other climate setbacks announced today, cities and states, the private sector, and Americans across the nation will join with others around the world to continue to propel the clean energy transition critical to creating a sustainable and livable future for all. The science is clear. The technological solutions are in hand. The Climate Reality Project will continue to support and work with our global network of 3.8 million to push for progress in the US and around the world to solve the climate crisis. Sources: bit.lv/4jpswbp; bit.lv/4algvT4.
January 21, 2025 at 3:27 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
NASA confirms that 2024 was the hottest year on record: www.nasa.gov/news-release...
Post by @NASA on X: “2024 was the warmest year on record. Our experts work with @NOAA scientists to track Earth’s average temperature, relying on millions of measurements worldwide. They found this year was hotter than any since at least 1880, the result of human activities: go.nasa.gov/3WdGkvy”
January 11, 2025 at 12:32 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
If anyone is interested in checking out my award-winning Honours thesis from 2023, I've uploaded it to Thesis Commons so that it is publicly available to download and read: doi.org/10.31237/osf...
[Photo of the thesis cover] The Target of a Protest: Are Extreme Protests Perceived More Negatively When the Target Is Deemed Undeserving? Jarren L. Nylund School of Psychology, The University of Queensland PSYC4071: Individual Research Thesis 4 October 2023 This thesis is submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) degree at The University of Queensland Assessable Word Count: 8,000 Total Word Count: 20,939
January 4, 2025 at 1:21 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
We don't normally do gifts, but my cousin couldn't resist buying this mug for me for Christmas.

It's a global warming mug that shows reduced landmass due to ocean level rise and the globe getting hotter when it is filled with hot liquid.

I needed a new coffee mug, thanks cuz!
December 27, 2024 at 7:02 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Just got home from delivering my first presentation at a social psychology conference, SASP 2024. Attendees got a sneak preview of my latest research on 'The Climate Activist's Dilemma'. Everyone else will have to wait for it to be published. 😊

Thanks to all those who attended.
A photo of the title slide: "The Climate Activist's Dilemma: Extreme Protests Raise Climate Concern and Intentions but Reduce Movement Support. Jarren L. Nylund, Michael Thai, Matthew J. Hornsey. The University of Queensland."
November 29, 2024 at 7:30 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
PhD student at The University of Queensland, working with the Net Zero Observatory research team. My research focuses on applying theories and methods from psychology to explore topics related to collective action and climate mitigation.

Recent work on perceptions of allies: doi.org/10.1111/bjso...
What are they in it for? Marginalised group members' perceptions of allies differ depending on the costs and rewards associated with their allyship Michael Thai, Jarren L. Nylund Abstract Advantaged group allies can incur costs or rewards as a result of their allyship. The present work investigates whether such costs and rewards affect how marginalised group members perceive these allies. Across four experiments that collectively examine marginalised group members' perceptions of individual and corporate allies in the context of allyship for women's rights, Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQI+ community, we find that allies are perceived differently as a function of the costs and rewards associated with their allyship. Allies who face costs are perceived more positively in terms of tenacity and genuine motivations, and are generally evaluated more favourably compared to allies who do not face costs and those who, instead, garner rewards for their allyship. These findings demonstrate that marginalised group members are cognisant of the costs and rewards allies may reap, and that this information can shape their judgements of allies' investment in the cause. Keywords: allyship, attribution, collective action, costs, rewards Thai, M., & Nylund, J. L. (2024). What are they in it for? Marginalised group members' perceptions of allies differ depending on the costs and rewards associated with their allyship. British Journal of Social Psychology, 63(1), 131–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12670
November 21, 2024 at 2:42 AM
jarrennylund.bsky.social
New paper by Matthew J. Hornsey and colleagues published in the European Journal of Social Psychology on intergroup conflicts preventing climate action, and solutions to address them: doi.org/10.1002/ejsp...
Figure 1: Five dimensions of intergroup conflict over climate change, with indicative examples. Examples of intergroup conflict over climate change: Political ideology (left vs. right), international conflicts (global north vs. global south), populism (elites vs. ordinary citizens), activist conflicts (climate activists vs. biodiversity activists).
November 16, 2024 at 8:31 AM