Both psychological and political science researchers have pointed out that Trump policies embrace right wing and authoritarian dispositions. In turn, such dis- positions have been related to climate change denial and aversion to wealth redistribution. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the relationship between individuals’ favorable attitude towards Trump and climate change skepticism. We aimed to understand two cruxes in this relationship: (i) whether the favorable attitude towards Trump influences climate change skep- ticism through the aversion to wealth redistribution and (ii) whether people’s interest in politics interacts in the relationships between attitude towards Trump and two social outcomes—climate change denial and aversion to wealth redistri- bution. We considered a representative sample of the US electorate (ANES 2016 database, N = 4271), assessing attitudes towards Trump by aggregating sev- eral indicators concerning respondents’ evaluations of Trump. Interest in politics, aversion to wealth redistribution, and climate change skepticism had also been as- sessed. Results showed that favorable attitudes towards Trump related to climate change denial through the aversion to wealth redistribution. Moreover, the link between such attitudes and both climate change skepticism and aversion to wealth redistribution was stronger for people showing a greater interest in politics.

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

Panno, Angelo;
2019-01-01

Abstract

Both psychological and political science researchers have pointed out that Trump policies embrace right wing and authoritarian dispositions. In turn, such dis- positions have been related to climate change denial and aversion to wealth redistribution. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the relationship between individuals’ favorable attitude towards Trump and climate change skepticism. We aimed to understand two cruxes in this relationship: (i) whether the favorable attitude towards Trump influences climate change skep- ticism through the aversion to wealth redistribution and (ii) whether people’s interest in politics interacts in the relationships between attitude towards Trump and two social outcomes—climate change denial and aversion to wealth redistri- bution. We considered a representative sample of the US electorate (ANES 2016 database, N = 4271), assessing attitudes towards Trump by aggregating sev- eral indicators concerning respondents’ evaluations of Trump. Interest in politics, aversion to wealth redistribution, and climate change skepticism had also been as- sessed. Results showed that favorable attitudes towards Trump related to climate change denial through the aversion to wealth redistribution. Moreover, the link between such attitudes and both climate change skepticism and aversion to wealth redistribution was stronger for people showing a greater interest in politics.
2019
Attitudes
Climate Change
political interest
environmental psychology
political psychology
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Panno_et_al-2019-TRUMP_Journal_of_Social_Issues.pdf

non disponibili

Dimensione 386 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
386 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14092/3212
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
social impact