Misogyny, authoritarianism, and climate change

Abstract

Globally, democratic politics are under attack from Electorally Legitimated Misogynist Authoritarian (ELMA) leaders who successfully use misogyny as a political strategy and present environmental concern in feminine and inferior terms. The ascendancy of such projects raise questions involving socioeconomic structures, political communication, and the psychological underpinnings of people's attitudes. We offer misogyny, conceptualized in a specific way – not simply as hatred or disgust for women, but as a way of accessing a gendered hierarchy whereby that which is labeled “feminine” is perceived as inferior, devalued, and amenable to be attacked – as a relevant transmission mechanism in how ELMAs like Trump may connect with public opinion by systematically investigating the interplay between misogyny, authoritarianism, and climate change in the context of the United States. Using a survey methodology (N = 314) and up‐to‐date questionnaires, we provide a concrete empirical underpinning for recent analytical and theoretical work on the complexity of misogyny. We analyze how misogynist and authoritarian attitudes correlate with climate change, adding to the literature on opposition to climate change policy. An additional exploratory aspect of our study concerning US voter preferences clearly indicates that Trump supporters are more misogynist, more authoritarian, and less concerned with the environment.

A critical feminist system justification analysis of climate obstructionism on the part of conservative white men

“…Fortunately, there have been recent efforts to integrate critical theory on environmental masculinities with more rigorous empirical testing. Kaul and Buchanan (2023), for instance, sought to explicate patterned relations among misogyny, authoritarianism, and climate attitudes by drawing on critical social science and social psychological constructs as theoretical foundations. They observed that climate skeptics scored higher on misogyny and authoritarianism than those who believed in climate change.…”

“…Misogyny-defined as the devaluation of that which is perceived as "feminine" (Kaul, 2021)-is more common, but not exclusive to men (Kaul & Buchanan, 2023). The "gender gap" in environmental attitudes may be attributable to the (generally) increased acceptance of sexist attitudes among men (vs. women) rather than gender identification per se.…”

“…To this end, environmental psychology would benefit enormously from incorporating the insights of sociologists, anthropologists, and critical theorists, as we have sought to do here. Our approach is also aligned with recent calls to link critical-feminist theory and empirical social science (Kaul & Buchanan, 2023) and to address the ways in which racial identity affects climate attitudes and refrain from making population-level generalizations from findings that apply only to white Americans (Benegal et al, 2022).…”

“…Given their outsize impact on the climate-and their disproportionate degree of social, economic, and political capital-addressing and overcoming climate skepticism among conservative white men is crucial to obtaining a more sustainable future (Jacquet et al, 2014). 2 In this article, we begin by tracing critical feminist scholarship on the intersection of hegemonic masculinity and environmental dominance (see also Kaul & Buchanan, 2023). Next, we bring in system justification theory as a uniquely valuable framework for analyzing social psychological aspects of climate inaction (e.g., Jost, 2020).…”