Cited by 928Pro-Environmental Behavior and AttitudesPsychology of Moral and Emotional JudgmentClimate Change Communication and Perception

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The Moral Roots of Environmental Attitudes

Feinberg, Matthew, Willer, Robb·2013·Psychological Science

DOI 10.1177/0956797612449177

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Abstract

Americans' attitudes about the environment are highly polarized, but it is unclear why this is the case. We conducted five studies to examine this issue. Studies 1a and 1b demonstrated that liberals, but not conservatives, view the environment in moral terms and that this tendency partially explains the relation between political ideology and environmental attitudes. Content analyses of newspaper op-eds (Study 2a) and public-service announcements (Study 2b) found that contemporary environmental discourse is based largely on moral concerns related to harm and care, which are more deeply held by liberals than by conservatives. However, we found that reframing proenvironmental rhetoric in terms of purity, a moral value resonating primarily among conservatives, largely eliminated the difference between liberals' and conservatives' environmental attitudes (Study 3). These results establish the importance of moralization as a cause of polarization on environmental attitudes and suggest that reframing environmental discourse in different moral terms can reduce the gap between liberals and conservatives in environmental concern.

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Methodology in Legal Research
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Why Do Conservatives Report Being Happier Than Liberals? The Contribution of Neuroticism
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“For example, Feinberg and Willer (2013) found that liberal-conservative differences in endorsement of pro-environmental policies were completely eliminated when conservative participants were presented with pro-environmental arguments that emphasized the disgusting aspects of pollution.”
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“…(Asensio & Delmas, 2015; Corner & Pidgeon, 2015; Stern & Raimi, 2015), appealing to people’s core moral and political values (Campbell & Kay, 2014; Feinberg & Willer, 2012), and making environmental issues personally relevant to people’s physical environment (Hart & Nisbet, 2012; McDonald, Chai,…”
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“While some evidence suggests conservatives and Republicans are more responsive to gain-framed messages than to messages that focus on the risk of environmental loss due to inaction [48,51,69], we expect this is an artifact of backlash against partisan rhetoric rather than a natural predisposition to respond to gain fr…”
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“Feinberg and Willer (2013) show that pro-environmental messages in the context of the U.”
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“Individual morality motivates individual interest and commitment to environmental issues, making moral reflectiveness a proximal motivating factor of pro-environmental conduct (Feinberg and Willer, 2013).”
Background
Technological Determinism and Permissionless Innovation as Technocratic Governing Mentalities: Psychocultural Barriers to the Democratization of Technology
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“Others have found that describing environmental harm in terms of purity, a moral frame typically more salient to conservatives, rather than in terms of harm and care, tends to be helpful in reducing the gap between liberals and conservatives regarding environmental issues (Feinberg and Willer 2013).”
Background
Personalizing Moral Reframing in Interpersonal Conversation: A Field Experiment
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“For example, framing environmental conservation as about cleaning the environment may be more persuasive to those who value “purity/sanctity” (Feinberg and Willer 2013).”
Background
Moral Framing of Mental Health Discourse and Its Relationship to Stigma: A Comparison of Social Media and News
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“has additionally been applied to study political discourse in news media on Mosque construction controversies [13], environmental attitudes [35], and Oklahoma Sharia amendment campaign [14].”
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Binding Moral Foundations and the Narrowing of Ideological Conflict to the Traditional Morality Domain
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Authors: Feinberg, M., & Willer, R.
Affiliations: Stanford University (US)
University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author: Feinberg, Matthew
ORCID: Feinberg, Matthew
Willer, Robb
Venue: Psychological Science
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2012-12-10
Volume: 24
Issue: 1
Pages: 56-62
ISSN: 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
1467-9280
DOI: 10.1177/0956797612449177
OpenAlex: W2120107374
Cited by: 928
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 74 · 2025: 85 · 2024: 70 · 2023: 80 · 2022: 89 · 2021: 101 · 2020: 116 · 2019: 88 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 41 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 17
FWCI: 81.04
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Pro-Environmental Behavior and Attitudes
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
Keywords: environmental attitudes, moralization, political ideology, moral foundations, purity, reframing, environmental discourse, public service announcements
MeSH terms: Attitude, Conservation of Natural Resources, Female, Humans, Male, Mass Media, Morals, Persuasive Communication, Politics, Public Policy, Surveys and Questionnaires, Students, Recycling

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The Moral Roots of Environmental Attitudes

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