November 19, 2025

IC9.1: Do the constant bad news make us numb?

20 minutes

This week is Part I of our first two-parter! And it's an important one (at least for us).

In this two-parter, we talk about how the constant onslaught of bad news can be overwhelming and which psychological effects on individuals are at play.

In Part I, we dive into the concept of 'numbness' in response to constant bad news, the finite pool of attention and the finite pool of worry, and some key barriers of (science) communication.

Part II will deal with the importance of hope, agency, and personal responsibility in science and especially climate communication.

If you want to give feedback you can write to [email protected] or [email protected].

If you have a topic on your mind that you have always wondered about, send us an e-mail as well with topic recommendations and we’ll make it less inconvenient for all of you.

Sources

Reuters Institute. Digital News Report 2025 (https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-06/DigitalNews-Report2025.pdf))

Per Espen Stoknes, Rethinking climate communications and the “psychological climate paradox”, Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 1, 2014, Pages 161-170 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2014.03.007))

Matthew R. Sisco, Sara Constantino, Yu Gao, Massimo Tavoni, Valentina Bosetti, Elke U. Weber, Finite Pool of Worry: Evidence and Qualifications, Findings Summary, 30 July 2020 (https://elke-u-weber.com/media/finitepoolofworry-findingssummary-matt-07302020.pdf))

Paul Slovic, David Zionts, Andrew K. Woods, Ryan Goodman, Derek Jinks, Psychic Numbing and Mass

Atrocity, 2010 (https://untref.edu.ar/documentos/ceg/50%20Paul%20Slovic.pdf))

Darrick Evensen, Lorraine Whitmarsh, Phil Bartie, Patrick Devine-Wright, Jennifer Dickie, Adam Varley, Stacia Ryder, Adam Mayer, Effect of “finite pool of worry” and COVID-19 on UK climate change perceptions, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, 2021 (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2018936118))

Nathaniel Geiger, Timothy Dwyer, Janet K Swim, Hopium or empowering hope? A meta-analysis of hope and climate engagement, Frontiers in Psychology, 2023 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10465179/))

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By Kaisa Virolainen & Jan Kleine

November 19, 2025

IC9.1: Do the constant bad news make us numb?

20 minutes

This week is Part I of our first two-parter! And it's an important one (at least for us).

In this two-parter, we talk about how the constant onslaught of bad news can be overwhelming and which psychological effects on individuals are at play.

In Part I, we dive into the concept of 'numbness' in response to constant bad news, the finite pool of attention and the finite pool of worry, and some key barriers of (science) communication.

Part II will deal with the importance of hope, agency, and personal responsibility in science and especially climate communication.

If you want to give feedback you can write to [email protected] or [email protected].

If you have a topic on your mind that you have always wondered about, send us an e-mail as well with topic recommendations and we’ll make it less inconvenient for all of you.

Sources

Reuters Institute. Digital News Report 2025 (https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-06/DigitalNews-Report2025.pdf))

Paul Slovic, David Zionts, Andrew K. Woods, Ryan Goodman, Derek Jinks, Psychic Numbing and Mass

Atrocity, 2010 (https://untref.edu.ar/documentos/ceg/50%20Paul%20Slovic.pdf))

...more

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IC9.1: Do the constant bad news make us numb?

IC9.1: Do the constant bad news make us numb?