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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“These studies tend to show support for conventionally ‘ progressive ’ policies increases among right-leaning participants if those policies are justi ﬁ ed using binding frames (Day et al., 2014; Feinberg & Willer, 2013; Hurst & Stern, 2020; Wolsko et al., 2016).”
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“36 As MFT suggests, the perceived salience of each foundation varies by context, and no single foundation is universally paramount.”
Empirical Identification of the Moral Assumptions Embedded within a Seminal Economic Text: Capitalism and Freedom
Wiseman, R. (2026) · Journal of Philosophical Economics · doi:10.46298/jpe.17004
“…moral intuitions to predict viewpoints including on supposedly fact-driven topics such as vaccination (e.g., Schmidtke et al. 2022), global warming (Feinberg & Willer 2013), stem cell research (Clifford & Jerit 2013), immigration (Iceland et al. 2026) and minimum wage policy (Agarwal & Fairris…”
Tracing Frame Trajectories in Policy Debates: Placing the EU in Global Discourse Networks
Atikcan, E. Ö., Holzscheiter, A., Morin, J., & Henrichsen, T. (2026) · JCMS Journal of Common Market Studies · doi:10.1111/jcms.70134
“The importance of frames is evident in today ’ s world, in the ﬁ elds of migration policy, environmental politics, trade negotiations, global health, technology and more (e.g., de Ville and Siles-Brügge, 2016; Feinberg and Willer, 2013; Hanrieder, 2016; Hobolt, 2016).”
Engaging through enraging: Does inciting anger about climate change increase support for climate action?
Stanley, S. K., Gregersen, T., Summerell, E., & Walker, I. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103074
Pure Prosociality? A Daily Diary Study of Moral Foundations and Prosocial Giving Intentions with a Yearly Follow-up
Nowakowska, I., & Świderska, J. (2026) · Journal of Human Values · doi:10.1177/09716858261436892
From natural to moral: Perceived naturalness increases moral standing for non-sentient entities
Ali, A., Klebl, C., & Bastian, B. B. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103036
Narratives About Deported Migrants Who Served in the U.S. Military Reduce Animosity Toward Migrants in the United States
Moore‐Berg, S. L., Adeojo, O. S., Gallardo, R. A., Kteily, N., & Hameiri, B. (2026) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672261425364
The effects of postmortem pictures in U.S. news coverage of school shootings: Emotional responses, perceived media bias, and gun control policy support
Fishman, J. M., Fourie, M. M., Murin‐Minareci, M. A., & Moore‐Berg, S. L. (2026) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.70111
“Indeed, when information is framed in a way that resonates with partisan moral values, they are more likely to update their attitudes and beliefs in response (Feinberg & Willer, 2013).”
Can Moral Framing Reduce Climate Change Polarization? Textual and Experimental Evidence from Norway
Enstad, J. D., & Thorbjørnsrud, K. (2026) · Environmental Communication · doi:10.1080/17524032.2026.2623481
“Fourth, moral framing studies have tended to employ a limited number of frames, often just two broad framing conditions representing universalist and particu-larist values (e.g. Feinberg & Willer, 2013; Hurst & Stern, 2020; Wolsko et al., 2016).”
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Green morality: exploring the role of elaboration between moral framing and attitudes toward green energy
Matthews, A., & Hmielowski, J. D. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences · doi:10.1007/s13412-026-01109-9
Perception biases of sustainable tourism products: an empirical investigation among cruise ship passengers
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“Research suggests that these ideological patterns are mediated by broader cognitive, moral, and cultural mechanisms that inﬂuence how individuals perceive environmental risks and evaluate conservation efforts (Kahan et al. 2011; Feinberg and Willer 2013; Hibbing et al. 2014).”
Influential
Mapping the moral domain in a modern town hall: Moral foundations’ effects on collective action conditioned by ideology and issue
Haines, E. A., Thomas, E. F., Stothard, C., Kernot, D., Lizzio‐Wilson, M., Caminschi, I., Ram, R., & Rizoiu, M.-A. (2026) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/14614448251413686
Camera Trapping for Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Communication in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Suárez, J. D. B., Ortiz-Jaramillo, D., & Román, L. (2026) · Revista Prisma Social · doi:10.65598/rps.5986
Hoping for change: Hope moderates the link between political ideology and sustainable behavior
Çakanlar, A., Cavanaugh, L. A., & White, K. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102945 · Cited by 1
The Poverty of Moral Foundation Messaging
Hawkins, D., Karpowitz, C. F., Greene, S., Goodliffe, J., Graham, L., & Bodily, A. (2026) · Political Communication · doi:10.1080/10584609.2026.2612739
“1 Using Haidt as a foundation, Feinberg and Willer (2013, 2015) and Feinberg and Voelkel (2017) published a series of studies using moral foundation messaging to show that political arguments can be more persuasive to individuals who hold opposing ideologies if they are framed in the moral values…”
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Fortuin, N. P. M., & Sterkens, C. (2026) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.1111/jssr.70020
Which frame fits? Policy learning with framing for climate change policy attitudes
Offer‐Westort, M., Gruen, W., Herron, C., Hyatt, K., Buford, M., Davis, K., Fonseca, D., Gurevich, M., Huang, T., Jerez, R., et al. (2026) · Research & Politics · doi:10.1177/20531680251414927
“…emotions play an important role in shaping political attitudes (Emler, 2003; Skitka et al., 2005), sparking increased political engagement (Marietta, 2008), and moral appeals may have the potential to reduce an existing partisan gap in support for climate policy (Feinberg and Willer, 2013).”
The Effect of STEM Activities on Seventh-Grade Students' Attitudes Towards Environmental Problems and Their Learning Responsibilities
Bulut, G., & Ürek, H. (2025) · Manisa Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi · doi:10.52826/mcbuefd.1697475
Recalling Innocence: The cultural significance of childhood memories and moral purity for pro-environmental behavior
Kwan, L. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102855
Perceptions of Fair Animal Treatment Influence Attitudes Toward Conservation Endorsement
Bruder, J., & Park, T. (2025) · Human Ecology · doi:10.1007/s10745-025-00655-0
“This may be linked to the tendency in Western cultures to frame pro-environmental messages around individual morals (e.g., Feinberg & Willer, 2013), which are more prevalent in Western societies (Haidt, 2012).”
United we stand, divided we fall: social differences in climate efficacy and beliefs among young people in Flanders
Pauwels, F., Horckmans, R., Spruyt, B., & Siongers, J. (2025) · Environmental Sociology · doi:10.1080/23251042.2025.2592166
“That’s Immoral!”
Hirschhäuser, V., & Winter, S. (2025) · Journal of Media Psychology Theories Methods and Applications · doi:10.1027/1864-1105/a000501
Emotional Support and Opposition for National Environmental Policies in the UK
Hignell, B., Bakaki, Z., & Valentini, E. (2025) · The social science · doi:10.3390/socsci14110649
“…disgust sensitivity to protectionist or anti-scientific stances (Kam and Estes 2016), moral disgust is often elicited by the perception of environmental contamination and degradation—such as pollution of natural landscapes—as a violation of the moral foundation of purity (Feinberg and Willer 2013).”

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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