IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2022i1p131-d1010968.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ideologies, Conspiracy Beliefs, and the Chinese Public’s Politicized Attitudes to Climate Change

Author

Listed:
  • Yeheng Pan

    (School of Communication, Soochow University, Suzhou 215127, China)

  • Yu Xie

    (School of Communication, Soochow University, Suzhou 215127, China
    Center for Science Communication & Scientific Innovation, Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University, Jiashan 314100, China)

  • Hepeng Jia

    (School of Communication, Soochow University, Suzhou 215127, China
    Center for Science Communication & Scientific Innovation, Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University, Jiashan 314100, China)

  • Xi Luo

    (School of Communication, Soochow University, Suzhou 215127, China)

Abstract

While ideologies consistently influence public opinions on climate change in Western democracies, whether they affect the Chinese public’s climate attitudes is unknown. By applying a well-established measure of Chinese ideology, this study conducted a nationwide survey ( n = 1469) on the relationships between climate attitudes and ideologies, conspiracy beliefs, and science literacy. It is the first study to empirically investigate the impact of ideological tendencies, conspiracy beliefs, and conspiratorial thinking in shaping people’s climate attitudes. Among a series of novel findings, ideology was found to be a crucial factor in Chinese attitudes toward climate change, and economic ideology, in particular, was most strongly related to climate attitude. Moreover, somewhat counterintuitively, we found a positive link between respondents’ conspiratorial thinking and their climate awareness, as well as the failure of the moderation role of science literacy on ideological factors that influence climate attitude. All these findings suggest a mechanism behind the Chinese public’s perception of climate change, primarily working on the individual–state relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Yeheng Pan & Yu Xie & Hepeng Jia & Xi Luo, 2022. "Ideologies, Conspiracy Beliefs, and the Chinese Public’s Politicized Attitudes to Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2022:i:1:p:131-:d:1010968
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/131/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/131/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Risa Palm & Gregory B. Lewis & Bo Feng, 2017. "What Causes People to Change Their Opinion about Climate Change?," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 107(4), pages 883-896, July.
    2. Cheung, Millissa F.Y. & To, W.M., 2019. "An extended model of value-attitude-behavior to explain Chinese consumers’ green purchase behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 145-153.
    3. Binbin Wang & Qinnan Zhou, 2020. "Climate change in the Chinese mind: An overview of public perceptions at macro and micro levels," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(3), May.
    4. Hao Yu & Bing Wang & Yue-Jun Zhang & Shouyang Wang & Yi-Ming Wei, 2013. "Public perception of climate change in China: results from the questionnaire survey," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 69(1), pages 459-472, October.
    5. Giulio Fusco, 2021. "Twenty Years of Common Agricultural Policy in Europe: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-15, September.
    6. Matthew J. Hornsey & Emily A. Harris & Kelly S. Fielding, 2018. "Relationships among conspiratorial beliefs, conservatism and climate scepticism across nations," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(7), pages 614-620, July.
    7. Sander L van der Linden & Anthony A Leiserowitz & Geoffrey D Feinberg & Edward W Maibach, 2015. "The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change as a Gateway Belief: Experimental Evidence," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-8, February.
    8. Yue Zhang & Yingying Sun, 2018. "The Effect of Ideology on Attitudes toward GM Food Safety among Chinese Internet Users," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-16, November.
    9. You Kyung Lee, 2017. "A Comparative Study of Green Purchase Intention between Korean and Chinese Consumers: The Moderating Role of Collectivism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yeheng Pan & Yu Xie & Hepeng Jia & Xi Luo & Ruifen Zhang, 2022. "Lower Carbon, Stronger Nation: Exploring Sociopolitical Determinants for the Chinese Public’s Climate Attitudes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Duong Cong Doanh & Katarzyna Gadomska-Lila & Le Thi Loan, 2021. "Antecedents of green purchase intention: a cross-cultural empirical evidence from Vietnam and Poland," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 12(4), pages 935-971, December.
    3. Thomas, Melanee & DeCillia, Brooks & Santos, John B. & Thorlakson, Lori, 2022. "Great expectations: Public opinion about energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    4. Clulow, Z. & Reiner, D. M., 2022. "How to distinguish climate sceptics, antivaxxers, and persistent sceptics: Evidence from a multi-country survey of public attitudes," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2209, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    5. Emőke Kiss & Dániel Balla & András Donát Kovács, 2022. "Characteristics of Climate Concern—Attitudes and Personal Actions—A Case Study of Hungarian Settlements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, April.
    6. Matthew Andreotta & Fabio Boschetti & Simon Farrell & Cécile Paris & Iain Walker & Mark Hurlstone, 2022. "Evidence for three distinct climate change audience segments with varying belief-updating tendencies: implications for climate change communication," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 174(3), pages 1-29, October.
    7. Janel Jett & Leigh Raymond, 2021. "Issue Framing and U.S. State Energy and Climate Policy Choice," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 38(3), pages 278-299, May.
    8. 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.
    9. Hongxia Jin & Lu Lu & Haojun Fan, 2022. "Global Trends and Research Hotspots in Long COVID: A Bibliometric Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-14, March.
    10. Kaitlin T Raimi & Paul C Stern & Alexander Maki, 2017. "The Promise and Limitations of Using Analogies to Improve Decision-Relevant Understanding of Climate Change," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, January.
    11. Tamara Vlastelica & Milica Kostić-Stanković & Tamara Rajić & Jelena Krstić & Tijana Obradović, 2023. "Determinants of Young Adult Consumers’ Environmentally and Socially Responsible Apparel Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    12. Shapiro, Matthew A., 2020. "Next-generation battery research and development: Non-politicized science at the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    13. Philip R. Walsh & Rachel Dodds & Julianna Priskin & Jonathon Day & Oxana Belozerova, 2021. "The Corporate Responsibility Paradox: A Multi-National Investigation of Business Traveller Attitudes and Their Sustainable Travel Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    14. Saddam A. Hazaea & Ebrahim Mohammed Al-Matari & Khaled Zedan & Saleh F. A. Khatib & Jinyu Zhu & Hamzeh Al Amosh, 2022. "Green Purchasing: Past, Present and Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-28, April.
    15. Carolina Feliciana Machado & João Paulo Davim, 2022. "Higher Education for Sustainability: A Bibliometric Approach—What, Where and Who Is Doing Research in This Subject?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    16. Hazem Ali & Min Li & Yunhong Hao, 2021. "Purchasing Behavior of Organic Food among Chinese University Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-17, May.
    17. Reynolds, J.P. & Pilling, M. & Marteau, T.M., 2018. "Communicating quantitative evidence of policy effectiveness and support for the policy: Three experimental studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 1-12.
    18. Shehawy, Yasser Moustafa, 2023. "In green consumption, why consumers do not walk their talk: A cross cultural examination from Saudi Arabia and UK," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    19. Adam R. Pearson & Guadalupe A. Bacio & Sarah Naiman & Rainer Romero-Canyas & Jonathon P. Schuldt, 2021. "Cultural determinants of climate change opinion: familism predicts climate beliefs and policy support among US Latinos," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 1-8, July.
    20. Welsch, Heinz, 2021. "How climate-friendly behavior relates to moral identity and identity-protective cognition: Evidence from the European social surveys," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2022:i:1:p:131-:d:1010968. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.