IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/climat/v178y2025i2d10.1007_s10584-025-03862-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climate and authoritarianism in two global powers: exploring right-wing and left-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and climate concern and activism in the USA and India

Author

Listed:
  • W. P. Malecki

    (University of Wrocław)

  • Jagadish Thaker

    (University of Queensland)

  • Matthew Schneider-Mayerson

    (Rice University)

Abstract

Climate beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors are strongly associated with ideological factors, often rendering climate mitigation contentious and difficult. Evidence shows that some of the most powerful ideological factors are Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). However, this large body of research has some limitations. First, it tends to focus on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) countries and rarely has a cross-cultural dimension. Second, it tends to neglect the relationship between the left-wing counterpart of RWA, Left-Wing Authoritarianism (LWA), and climate-related outcome variables, even though both evidence and theory suggest that the relationship might be significant and opposed to the relationship between RWA and these outcome variables. The present study (N = 2206) sought to take a step toward addressing these limitations by studying the relationships between climate concern and activism and RWA, SDO, and LWA in India (n = 1104) and the USA (n = 1102). While RWA was negatively associated with climate concern and activism in the USA, it was positively associated with climate concern and activism in India. SDO was negatively associated with climate concern in both the USA and India. While SDO was negatively associated with climate activism in the USA, it was positively associated with climate activism in India. LWA was positively associated with climate concern and climate activism in both the USA and India. A discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these results is provided.

Suggested Citation

  • W. P. Malecki & Jagadish Thaker & Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, 2025. "Climate and authoritarianism in two global powers: exploring right-wing and left-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and climate concern and activism in the USA and India," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 178(2), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:178:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10584-025-03862-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-025-03862-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-025-03862-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10584-025-03862-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dey, Subhashish & Sreenivasulu, Anduri & Veerendra, G.T.N. & Rao, K. Venkateswara & Babu, P.S.S. Anjaneya, 2022. "Renewable energy present status and future potentials in India: An overview," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 1(1).
    2. Matthew J. Hornsey & Emily A. Harris & Paul G. Bain & Kelly S. Fielding, 2016. "Meta-analyses of the determinants and outcomes of belief in climate change," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(6), pages 622-626, June.
    3. Kumar, Surender, 2024. "Will the Green Credit Programme Incentivize Positive Environmental Actions," Ecology, Economy and Society - the INSEE Journal, Indian Society of Ecological Economics (INSEE), vol. 7(01), January.
    4. Sebastian Binyamin Skalski & Teresa Loichen & Loren L. Toussaint & Patrycja Uram & Anna Kwiatkowska & Janusz Surzykiewicz, 2022. "Relationships between Spirituality, Religious Fundamentalism and Environmentalism: The Mediating Role of Right-Wing Authoritarianism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-11, October.
    5. van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2021. "Climate Policies: Challenges, Obstacles And Tools," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 258, pages 12-27, November.
    6. Vyoma Jha, 2022. "India and Climate Change: Old Traditions, New Strategies," India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, , vol. 78(2), pages 280-296, June.
    7. Eugene Y. Chan & Jack Lin, 2022. "Political ideology and psychological reactance: how serious should climate change be?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 1-22, May.
    8. Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway, 2010. "Defeating the merchants of doubt," Nature, Nature, vol. 465(7299), pages 686-687, June.
    9. Maidul Islam, 2024. "Authoritarianism and majoritarian religious nationalism in contemporary India," World Affairs, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 187(2), pages 137-150, May.
    10. Jeremiah Bohr, 2014. "Public views on the dangers and importance of climate change: predicting climate change beliefs in the United States through income moderated by party identification," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 217-227, September.
    11. Baldwin, Elizabeth & Carley, Sanya & Nicholson-Crotty, Sean, 2019. "Why do countries emulate each others’ policies? A global study of renewable energy policy diffusion," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 29-45.
    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. Samantha K Stanley & Anna Klas & Edward J R Clarke & Iain Walker, 2021. "The effects of a temporal framing manipulation on environmentalism: A replication and extension," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(2), pages 1-34, February.
    2. Ting Liu & Nick Shryane & Mark Elliot, 2022. "Attitudes to climate change risk: classification of and transitions in the UK population between 2012 and 2020," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Nathaniel Geiger & Bryan McLaughlin & John Velez, 2021. "Not all boomers: temporal orientation explains inter- and intra-cultural variability in the link between age and climate engagement," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 1-20, May.
    4. Robin Bayes & James N. Druckman & Alauna C. Safarpour, 2022. "Studying Science Inequities: How to Use Surveys to Study Diverse Populations," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 700(1), pages 220-233, March.
    5. Shelley Boulianne & Mireille Lalancette & David Ilkiw, 2020. "“School Strike 4 Climate”: Social Media and the International Youth Protest on Climate Change," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 208-218.
    6. Upham, Dr Paul & Sovacool, Prof Benjamin & Ghosh, Dr Bipashyee, 2022. "Just transitions for industrial decarbonisation: A framework for innovation, participation, and justice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    7. Sarah Ann Wheeler & Céline Nauges & Alec Zuo, 2021. "How stable are Australian farmers’ climate change risk perceptions? New evidence of the feedback loop between risk perceptions and behaviour," Post-Print hal-03198062, HAL.
    8. Walter Leal Filho & Mark Mifsud & Petra Molthan-Hill & Gustavo J. Nagy & Lucas Veiga Ávila & Amanda Lange Salvia, 2019. "Climate Change Scepticism at Universities: A Global Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-13, May.
    9. Julie Davydova & Adam R. Pearson & Matthew T. Ballew & Jonathon P. Schuldt, 2018. "Illuminating the link between perceived threat and control over climate change: the role of attributions for causation and mitigation," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 45-59, May.
    10. David Klenert & Franziska Funke & Linus Mattauch & Brian O’Callaghan, 2020. "Five Lessons from COVID-19 for Advancing Climate Change Mitigation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 751-778, August.
    11. 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.
    12. Jeremiah Bohr, 2017. "Is it hot in here or is it just me? Temperature anomalies and political polarization over global warming in the American public," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 271-285, May.
    13. Sebastian Levi & Christian Flachsland & Michael Jakob, 2020. "Political Economy Determinants of Carbon Pricing," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 128-156, May.
    14. Roni Blushtein-Livnon & Tal Svoray & Itai Ficshhendler & Havatzelet Yahel & Emir Galilee & Michael Dorman, 2025. "Beyond Leaders and Laggards: A Typology of Renewable Energy Adoption Trajectories with Evidence from Off-Grid Communities," Papers 2505.22456, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2025.
    15. 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).
    16. Phu Nguyen-Van & Anne Stenger & Tuyen Tiet, 2021. "Social incentive factors in interventions promoting sustainable behaviors: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-27, December.
    17. Lars Mewes & Leonie Tuitjer & Peter Dirksmeier, 2024. "Exploring the variances of climate change opinions in Germany at a fine-grained local scale," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Sam Crawley & Hilde Coffé & Ralph Chapman, 2022. "Climate Belief and Issue Salience: Comparing Two Dimensions of Public Opinion on Climate Change in the EU," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 307-325, July.
    19. Babak Nemat & Mohammad Razzaghi & Kim Bolton & Kamran Rousta, 2023. "Design-Based Approach to Support Sorting Behavior of Food Packaging," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-32, February.
    20. David-Jan Jansen, 2023. "Homeowners and flood risk: A disconnect between awareness and actions?," Working Papers 791, DNB.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:climat:v:178:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10584-025-03862-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.