Guidebook: Using the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY) in Campaigns and Education

The document introduces SASSY, a four-question tool designed by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) to categorize individuals into six distinct audience segments: Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive. It details three implementation formats—an individual quiz, a group scoring tool, and an API—and provides case studies demonstrating how organizations like The Wild Center and Vermont PIRG have used the tool to refine exhibit planning, inform legislative campaigns, and reduce research costs. The guide also explains how to use SASSY for pre- and post-programming assessments to measure the effectiveness of climate education.

• The SASSY tool categorizes the American public into six distinct audience segments based on their perceptions of climate change: Alarmed (convinced of urgent threat), Concerned (believe it is a serious threat but distant), Cautious (undecided), Disengaged (know little), Doubtful (believe it is a natural cycle or not happening), and Dismissive (believe it is a hoax).
• SASSY consists of four specific questions regarding the personal importance of global warming, the level of worry, and the perceived harm to the individual and future generations.
• The tool is available in multiple languages, including Spanish, to engage non-English speaking communities; research indicates that Latinos in the US are more likely to be in the 'Alarmed' segment than White individuals.
• The Wild Center, a museum in rural New York, used SASSY to discover that 82% of its visitors were Alarmed or Concerned, contradicting staff assumptions that visitors were primarily Doubtful or Dismissive and saving approximately one year of exhibit development time.
• Vermont PIRG used SASSY to inform the 'Keep Vermont Cool' and 'Make Big Oil Pay' campaigns, identifying that 47% of Vermonters were Alarmed in 2021, which helped build the public will to pass the Renewable Energy Standard, the Clean Heat Standard, and the Climate Superfund Act.
• The USC Norman Lear Center and Good Energy used the SASSY API to screen survey participants, limiting the sample to Alarmed, Concerned, or Cautious individuals to reduce costs and target the audience most receptive to climate portrayals in entertainment.
• SASSY can be used to measure the impact of education by comparing pre- and post-program results; a shift from the Doubtful/Cautious end to the Concerned/Alarmed end indicates effective materials.

APA

Lin, J., Thompson, A., Marlon, D. J., Talwar, M., & Low, J. (2024). Guidebook: Using the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY) in Campaigns and Education. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Guidebook-SASSY-for-Campaigns-Final-2025.pdf

Chicago

Lin, Julia, Alison Thompson, Dr. Jenn Marlon, Mallika Talwar, and Joshua Low. Guidebook: Using the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY) in Campaigns and Education. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 2024. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Guidebook-SASSY-for-Campaigns-Final-2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lin |first1=Julia |last2=Thompson |first2=Alison |last3=Marlon |first3=Dr. Jenn |last4=Talwar |first4=Mallika |last5=Low |first5=Joshua |title=Guidebook: Using the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY) in Campaigns and Education |publisher=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |date=November 2024 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Guidebook-SASSY-for-Campaigns-Final-2025.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lin2024guidebook, author = {Lin, Julia and Thompson, Alison and Marlon, Dr. Jenn and Talwar, Mallika and Low, Joshua}, title = {{Guidebook: Using the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY) in Campaigns and Education}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Guidebook-SASSY-for-Campaigns-Final-2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }