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Brief exposure to Pope Francis heightens moral beliefs about climate change

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathon P. Schuldt

    (Cornell University)

  • Adam R. Pearson

    (Pomona College)

  • Rainer Romero-Canyas

    (Environmental Defense Fund and Columbia University)

  • Dylan Larson-Konar

    (Environmental Defense Fund)

Abstract

In his recent encyclical letter Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis issued a moral appeal to the global community for swift action on climate change. However, social science research suggests a complex relationship between religious concepts and environmental attitudes, raising the question of what influence the pope’s position may have on public opinion regarding this polarizing issue. In a national probability survey experiment of U.S. adults (n = 1212), we find that brief exposure to Pope Francis influenced the climate-related beliefs of broad segments of the public: it increased perceptions of climate change as a moral issue for the overall sample (and among Republicans in particular) and increased felt personal responsibility for contributing to climate change and its mitigation (among Democrats). Moreover, prior awareness of the pope’s views on climate change mattered, such that those who indicated greater awareness of the pope’s position showed stronger treatment effects, consistent with a priming account of these effects. Results complement recent correlational findings and offer further evidence of the Vatican’s influence on climate change public opinion.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathon P. Schuldt & Adam R. Pearson & Rainer Romero-Canyas & Dylan Larson-Konar, 2017. "Brief exposure to Pope Francis heightens moral beliefs about climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 167-177, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:141:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s10584-016-1893-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-016-1893-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marshall Burke & Solomon M. Hsiang & Edward Miguel, 2015. "Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production," Nature, Nature, vol. 527(7577), pages 235-239, November.
    2. Nan Li & Joseph Hilgard & Dietram A. Scheufele & Kenneth M. Winneg & Kathleen Hall Jamieson, 2016. "Cross-pressuring conservative Catholics? Effects of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the U.S. public opinion on climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 367-380, December.
    3. Ezra Markowitz, 2012. "Is climate change an ethical issue? Examining young adults’ beliefs about climate and morality," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 479-495, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Tobia Spampatti & Ulf J. J. Hahnel & Evelina Trutnevyte & Tobias Brosch, 2024. "Psychological inoculation strategies to fight climate disinformation across 12 countries," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(2), pages 380-398, February.
    3. Susumu Annaka & Gento Kato, 2022. "Can a constitutional monarch influence democratic preferences? Japanese emperor and the regulation of public expression," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(3), pages 699-708, May.
    4. Asheley R. Landrum & Rosalynn Vasquez, 2020. "Polarized U.S. publics, Pope Francis, and climate change: Reviewing the studies and data collected around the 2015 Papal Encyclical," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.

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