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Relationships between Spirituality, Religious Fundamentalism and Environmentalism: The Mediating Role of Right-Wing Authoritarianism

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  • Sebastian Binyamin Skalski

    (Faculty of Philosophy and Education, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, 85072 Eichstätt, Germany
    Faculty of Education, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, 01938 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Teresa Loichen

    (Faculty of Philosophy and Education, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, 85072 Eichstätt, Germany)

  • Loren L. Toussaint

    (Department of Psychology, Luther College, Decorah, IA 52101, USA)

  • Patrycja Uram

    (Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00950 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Anna Kwiatkowska

    (Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00950 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Janusz Surzykiewicz

    (Faculty of Philosophy and Education, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, 85072 Eichstätt, Germany
    Faculty of Education, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, 01938 Warsaw, Poland)

Abstract

According to past research, religious attitudes can strongly influence individuals’ beliefs and behaviors. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between spirituality (the Scale of Spirituality; dimensions include religious spirituality, expanding consciousness, searching for meaning, sensitivity to art, doing good, and sensitivity to inner beauty), religious fundamentalism (the Religious Fundamentalism Scale), support for right-wing authoritarianism (the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale), climate concerns (the Environmental Concern Scale), and pro-environmental behavior (the Pro-Environmental Behavior Scale). The cross-sectional study involved 512 Poles aged 18–63 (M = 34.63, SD = 5.96; Mdn = 33), including 51% females. Multiple regression analysis revealed that two dimensions of spirituality (sensitivity to art and doing good) and religious fundamentalism are significant and opposite predictors of climate concern and pro-environmental behavior. Spirituality appeared to foster increased climate concern and caring behavior, while religious fundamentalism negatively predicted the same variables. Mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between religion and environmentalism could be explained in part by differences in support for right-wing authoritarianism (authoritarianism itself was negatively related to environmental outcomes). In addition, analysis of variance revealed that believers (70% of participants in the study were Catholic) showed significantly lower scores regarding climate concerns and pro-environmental behavior than non-believers, yet the inclusion of support for right-wing authoritarianism as a covariate in the equation reduced intergroup differences to statistical insignificance. The data obtained suggest that religious attitudes and socio-political views may play important roles in solving environmental problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Binyamin Skalski & Teresa Loichen & Loren L. Toussaint & Patrycja Uram & Anna Kwiatkowska & Janusz Surzykiewicz, 2022. "Relationships between Spirituality, Religious Fundamentalism and Environmentalism: The Mediating Role of Right-Wing Authoritarianism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13242-:d:942174
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Janis L Dickinson & Poppy McLeod & Robert Bloomfield & Shorna Allred, 2016. "Which Moral Foundations Predict Willingness to Make Lifestyle Changes to Avert Climate Change in the USA?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-11, October.
    2. Min Gon Chung & Hana Kang & Thomas Dietz & Patricia Jaimes & Jianguo Liu, 2019. "Activating values for encouraging pro-environmental behavior: the role of religious fundamentalism and willingness to sacrifice," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 9(4), pages 371-385, December.
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