Social dominance orientation and climate change denial: The role of dominance and system justification

Attitudes towards Trump Policies and Climate Change: The Key Roles of Aversion to Wealth Redistribution and Political Interest

“…Therefore, we expected that at least a portion of the attitudes towards Trump effect (and of its interaction with interest in politics) would be mediated by an antiredistributionist stance that represents a neoliberal feature of Trump's policies. Such mediation would lend support to the notion that what is at stake for conservatives or American populists in opposing proenvironmental policies is not just the right of humans to exploit nature, as suggested by some scholars (Dohnt, Hodson, & Leite, ; Milfont et al., ), but rather the hierarchical inequalities embedded in the dominant social system (primacy of production, capitalist system, economic freedom, unrestrained consumption), and in the traditional way of life (Jylhä & Akrami, ; Milfont & Sibley, ; Rossen et al., ; Stanley et al., ). Therefore, we anticipated that: H3a: Aversion to redistribution will mediate the association of attitudes towards Trump with climate change skepticism; and (H3b) the shape of the direct and indirect effects will vary as a function of interest in politics (see Figure ).…”

“…On the other hand, Hallin () claims that “his government represents a continuation of the Tea Party movement, which can be described as a radical populist neoliberalism” (Hallin, , p. 4). In turn, either authoritarian dispositions or neoliberal elements have been linked with climate change denial and antienvironmentalist attitudes (e.g., Jylhä & Akrami, ; Klinsky et al., ; Milfont, Richter, Sibley, Wilson, & Fisher, ; Milfont & Sibley, ; Rossen, Dunlop & Lawrence, ; Stanley et al., ). President Trump has also been described as the latest incarnation of the recurrent populist wave in American politics (e.g., Oliver & Rahn, ).…”

Empathy and the liberal-conservative political divide in the U.S.

“…On the one hand, several studies (Hasson et al, 2018;Loewen et al, 2019;Wagaman & Segal, 2014) have identified empathy as a powerful and independent variable that tracks general ideological differences between the two sides. On the other hand, numerous studies (Jylhä & Akrami, 2015;Loewen et al, 2019;Newman, Hartman, Lown, & Feldman, 2015;Unnever et al, 2005;Westman & Lewandowski, 1991) indicate that differences in empathy correspond to the disagreements that liberals and conservatives have on specific issues such as war, affirmative action, and climate change. In terms of general political attitudes, an overwhelming majority of the empirical research suggests that a person's tendency to experience empathy bears a positive correlation with their propensity to harbor liberal attitudes.…”

Responding to Climate Change Skepticism and the Ideological Divide

“…System justification tendencies are a strong predictor of climate change skepticism because of the threat that climate change, and the solutions needed to ameliorate it, pose to the established system Fritsche et al 2012;Jost 2015;Jylhä and Akrami 2015). System justification is related to a greater tendency to deny that environmental problems exist, less favorable attitudes about the environment, and lower likelihood of engaging in behaviors that would prevent further damage to the environment .…”

“…SDO is linked to climate change denial insofar as both stem from a justification of societal hierarchies (Häkkinen and Akrami 2014;Jylhä and Akrami 2015). Moreover, the desire for dominance associated with SDO extends to a desire for human dominion over nature (Milfont et al 2013).…”