How Moral Foundations Shape Conservative Climate Concerns and Perceptions

Abstract

Climate change poses one of the most significant threats facing humanity, yet engagement in climate issues among American conservatives remains low. This study demonstrates the critical role moral foundations play in climate attitudes among conservatives. Analyzing survey data (n = 2188), we find that conservatives who score higher in compassion show greater belief in human-caused climate change, suggesting that appealing to shared humanity can persuade conservatives to accept the scientific consensus. However, ingroup loyalty is more pivotal for driving personal climate concern among conservatives. The more ingroup-focused, the less conservatives believe in climate change risk or worry about its impacts. These results highlight the nuanced interactions between morality and political orientation on climate views. The implications underscore the need to target specific moral foundations in climate messaging and policy to build conservative engagement. Appealing to compassion opens minds to climate concerns, but emphasizing impacts to local community rather than global effects is likely more effective for inspiring conservative action on climate change.