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Right-wing ideology reduces the effects of education on climate change beliefs in more developed countries

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  • Gabriela Czarnek

    (Jagiellonian University, Institute of Psychology)

  • Małgorzata Kossowska

    (Jagiellonian University, Institute of Psychology)

  • Paulina Szwed

    (Jagiellonian University, Institute of Psychology)

Abstract

The effects of education on people’s climate change beliefs vary as a function of political ideology: for those on the political left, education is related to pro-climate change beliefs, whereas for those on the political right, these effects are weak or negative. This phenomenon has been examined mainly in the US, where climate change has become a highly politicized issue; however, climate change is less politicized in other contexts. Here we analyse the effects of education and political ideology across 64 countries and show that education has positive effects on pro-climate change beliefs at low and mid-levels of development. At higher levels of development, right-wing ideology attenuates (but does not reverse) the positive effects of education. These analyses extend previous findings by systematically investigating the between-country variation in the relationship between education, ideology and climate change beliefs. The current findings suggest that US-centric theories on the topic should not be generally applied to other contexts uncritically.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriela Czarnek & Małgorzata Kossowska & Paulina Szwed, 2021. "Right-wing ideology reduces the effects of education on climate change beliefs in more developed countries," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 9-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:11:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41558-020-00930-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-00930-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Guglielmo Zappalà, 2023. "Drought Exposure and Accuracy: Motivated Reasoning in Climate Change Beliefs," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 85(3), pages 649-672, August.
    2. Agneman, Gustav & Henriks, Sofia & Bäck, Hanna & Renström, Emma, 2024. "On the nexus between material and ideological determinants of climate policy support," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    3. Guglielmo Zappalà, 2022. "Drought exposure and accuracy: Motivated reasoning in climate change beliefs," Working Papers 2022.02, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    4. J. L. Arroyo-Barrigüete & C. Bellón Núñez-Mera & J. Labrador & V. L. Nicolas, 2023. "Ideology, scientific literacy, and climate change: the case of Spain," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 13(2), pages 350-356, June.
    5. Samuel Pearson & Matthew J. Hornsey & Saphira Rekker & Belinda Wade & Chris Greig, 2024. "Publicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(5), pages 1-16, May.
    6. Justin Sulik & Ophelia Deroy & Guillaume Dezecache & Martha Newson & Yi Zhao & Marwa El Zein & Bahar Tunçgenç, 2021. "Facing the pandemic with trust in science," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Caroline Brock & Van R. Haden, 2024. "Amish and Non-Amish Farmer Perspectives on Climate Change Causes, Effects, and Adaptation Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-14, January.
    8. Veronika Toth & Miriam Sebova, 2024. "Examining climate change awareness and climate-friendly activities of urban residents: A case study in Kosice," E&M Economics and Management, Technical University of Liberec, Faculty of Economics, vol. 27(1), pages 24-39, March.

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