A survey of 9,199 scientists in 115 countries found that scientists who believe technology will largely solve climate-change problems were less likely to report civic climate action and high-impact lifestyle changes. The reported differences—28% and 20%, respectively—are associations, not evidence that techno-optimism caused people to act less.
What the study means by techno-optimism
The finding comes from a preprint by Fabian Dablander, Viktoria Cologna, Maien Sachisthal, and Jonas M. B. Haslbeck. It defines techno-optimism narrowly: the belief that technology will largely solve problems caused by climate change. That is not the same as supporting climate technologies, such as renewable energy, or having confidence in science generally. Read the study record and abstract.
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What the survey reported
In the abstract, the authors say techno-optimistic scientists were less likely to engage in civic climate action or make high-impact lifestyle changes:
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|---|---|
| Civic climate action | 28% lower likelihood among techno-optimistic scientists |
| High-impact lifestyle changes | 20% lower likelihood among techno-optimistic scientists |
These are the abstract’s reported comparisons. They do not mean that 28% or 20% of scientists took no action, and the available summary does not provide enough detail to interpret the figures as absolute percentage-point differences.
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What the results do—and do not—show
The survey identifies a relationship between a particular belief and reported actions; it does not establish that the belief caused the difference. Other factors could be related to both views and behavior. The available abstract and author summary do not give the recruitment method, response rate, country distribution, uncertainty intervals, full measure wording, or model specification, so the size and robustness of the associations cannot be assessed from those materials alone.
The authors also report that techno-optimism was most prevalent among scientists in applied and natural sciences and among those with right-leaning political views. This describes patterns in the survey; it should not be read as a claim about every scientist in those fields or political groups. See the authors’ abstract summary.
How it fits with other research
A 2025 peer-reviewed qualitative study, Climate futures: Scientists’ discourses on collapse versus transformation, examines how scientists’ narratives about climate futures relate to pathways for climate action. It offers context for how technological optimism may shape those narratives, but it does not independently confirm the survey’s 28% and 20% figures. Read the qualitative study.
Publication status and date
The authors’ record lists version 3 of the preprint on July 25, 2026, and version 1 on November 13, 2025. It should therefore be described as a preprint, not as a peer-reviewed publication, unless a later publication record is confirmed. Check the version record.
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