scholarly journals Right-Wing Stewards: The Promoting Effect of Religiosity on Environmental Concern among Political Conservatives in a Global Context

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peyman Hekmatpour

Abstract This article studies the relationship between individuals’ religiosity, political ideology, and environmental concern, in a cross-national setting. Drawing data from multiple waves of the World Values Survey (1999–2009), the final sample of this study includes 44,391 respondents nested in 43 countries. By using a multi-level modeling technique, the study finds that religiosity is positively associated with respondents’ environmental concerns in terms of willingness to pay for the environment, agreement with increased taxes to prevent environmental pollution, and choosing environmental protection over economic interests. Political ideology, measured via individuals’ self-placement on a left-right continuum, does not have a meaningful relationship with environmental concern in a global setting. Nevertheless, there is an interaction effect between religiosity and political ideology. Increased religiosity, particularly among more conservative individuals, is associated with a higher probability of environmental concern. Comparatively, religiosity virtually does not affect liberals’ concern for the natural environment. The gap between liberals and conservatives regarding the natural environment is more pronounced at lower levels of religiosity; as religiosity increases, the gap starts to narrow. Results suggest that religion has the potential to elevate some of the political barriers on the way towards reaching a collective environmental consciousness.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peyman Hekmatpour

This article studies the relationship between individuals’ religiosity, political ideology, and environmental concern, in a cross-national setting. Drawing data from multiple waves of the World Values Survey (1999-2009), the final sample of this study includes 44,391 respondents nested in 43 countries. By using a multi-level modeling technique, I find that, in general, religiosity is positively associated with respondents’ environmental concerns in terms of willingness to pay for the environment, agreement with increased taxes to prevent environmental pollutions, and choosing environmental protection over economic interests. Political ideology, measured via individuals’ self-placement on a left-right continuum, does not have a meaningful relationship with environmental concern in a global setting. Nevertheless, I observe an interaction effect between religiosity and political ideology. Increased religiosity, particularly among more conservative individuals, is associated with a higher probability of environmental concern. Comparatively, religiosity virtually does not affect liberals’ concern for the natural environment. In other words, the gap between liberals and conservatives regarding the natural environment is more pronounced at lower levels of religiosity; as religiosity increases, the gap starts to narrow. Results suggest that religion has the potential to elevate some of the political barriers on the way towards reaching a collective environmental consciousness.


Author(s):  
Eunseong Jeong ◽  
Taesoo Lee ◽  
Alan Dixon Brown ◽  
Sara Choi ◽  
Minyoung Son

Governments have designated national parks to protect the natural environment against ecosystem destruction and improve individuals’ emotional and recreational life. National parks enhance environment-friendly awareness by conducting ecotourism activities and individuals with environment-friendly awareness are inclined to continue to visit national parks as ecotourism destinations. The New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) is a widely used measure of environmental concern, suitable for measuring the environment-friendly attitude and revisit intention of visitors of national parks. Therefore, the study carried out structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationship between the NEP, national park conservation consciousness and environment-friendly behavioral intention. Based on the results, an implication is presented to induce national parks to cultivate individual environment-friendly awareness and for visitors to pursue sustainable, environment-friendly tourism behavior. The findings indicate that national parks are to expand educational programs and facilities for eco-tourists visiting national parks to maintain a balanced relationship between themselves and nature and have a strong environmental awareness to preserve the natural environment.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peyman Hekmatpour

The Anthropocene age is marked by increased human impacts on the natural environment. As social beings, humans interact with each other, and with their surrounding environments, often through organizations and institutions. Religion and the polity are among the most influential human institutions, and they tend to impact the natural environment in several ways. For instance, several thinkers have claimed that some of the central ideas of the Abrahamic traditions, such as the concept of “Domination of men over the earth,” are among the causes of several anthropogenic environmental problems. By contrast, some of the ideas of non-Abrahamic, particularly animistic, religions are found to be associated with environmental conservation and stewardship. The polity can also contribute to environmental problems. The relationship between political organizations and environmental degradation, at any level of analysis from local to global, is well studied and established in the literature. Politicizing the natural environment, however, is not without tradeoffs. Environmentalism, by certain groups of people, is considered as a “stigma,” while it is a central concept in the political ideology of another part of the population. This antagonism is harmful to the environmental protection cause. I make the case that religion, or at least a number of religious ideas, can be conducive to the process of depoliticizing the natural environment. In this paper, I strive to draw a theoretical framework to explain how religion and the polity can mutually impact the natural environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Ilmi Amalia

AbstractIn practicing worship almost all Muslims run in the same manner but in Indonesia also found the diversity of the face of Islam. One form of diversity is how to see religion as a political ideology. From various views political ideologies based on Islamic religion have polarizations, namely secular and radical Islamism. How to explain the diversity of ideologies based on individual differences. Jost et al (2009) offer three basic needs that determine individual ideological differences, namely the need for epistemic, the need for existential, and the need for relational. In addition to differences in the concept of fundamental needs, studies also show a relationship between personality types and ideological or political attitudes. Duckitt & Sibley (2010) offers a dual-process motivational model that explains that political ideology is formed due to interactions between personalities and different social situations. Many studies have been conducted to see the relationship between ideology with liberal and conservative polarization (right / left) or right wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) with different needs or personality types (Jost, Ledgerwood, & Hardin, 2008; Jost et al., 2007; Sibley, Osborne, & Duckitt, 2012). However, no research has been conducted on political ideologies based on religion, especially Islam. The study was conducted on 243 Muslims and aged 17 years and over. Questionnaires were distributed in the Greater Jakarta area online and offline. The sampling technique used convenience sampling. Then the data is processed using regression analysis techniques. The results showed that together, the need for epistemic, need for existential, need for relational, and Big five personality influenced Islamic political ideology with a contribution of 7.2%. Significant predictors of the relationship are need for existential and need for relational. AbstrakDalam pelaksanaan ibadah hampir semua umat Islam menjalankan dengan tata cara yang sama namun di Indonesia ditemukan juga keanekaragaman wajah Islam. Salah satu bentuk keanekaragaman tersebut adalah bagaimana melihat agama sebagai suatu ideologi politik. Dari berbagai macam pandangan dapat dilihat bahwa ideologi politik yang berbasis agama Islam memiliki polarisasi yaitu sekuler dan radikal Islamisme. Bagaimana menjelaskan keragaman ideologi tersebut berdasarkan perbedaan individual. Jost dkk (2009) menawarkan adanya tiga kebutuhan mendasar yang menentukan perbedaan ideologi individu yaitu need for epistemic, need for existential, dan need for relational. Selain pada perbedaan pada konsep kebutuhan mendasar, studi juga menunjukkan adanya hubungan tipe kepribadian dan ideologi atau sikap politik. Duckitt & Sibley (2010) menawarkan model dual-process motivational yang menjelaskan bahwa ideologi politik terbentuk akibat interaksi antara kepribadian dan situasi sosial yang berbeda. Studi telah banyak dilakukan untuk melihat hubungan ideologi dengan polarisasi liberal dan konservatif (kanan/kiri) atau right wing authoritarianism (RWA) dan social dominance orientation (SDO) dengan perbedaan kebutuhan atau tipe kepribadian (Jost, Ledgerwood, & Hardin, 2008; Jost et al., 2007; Sibley, Osborne, & Duckitt, 2012). Namun demikian, belum ada riset yang dilakukan pada ideologi politik yang berlandaskan pada agama terutama Islam. Studi dilakukan pada 243 Muslim dan berumur 17 tahun ke atas. Kuesioner disebarkan di daerah Jabodetabek secara daring dan luring. Teknik pengambilan sampel digunakan convenience sampling. Kemudian data diolah dengan teknik analisis regresi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan secara bersama-sama, need for epistemic, need for existential, need for relational, dan Big five personality mempengaruhi ideologi politik Islam dengan kontribusi sebesar 7,2 %. Prediktor yang signifikan hubungannya adalah need for existential dan need for relational.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Panno ◽  
Giuseppe Carrus ◽  
Ambra Brizi ◽  
Fridanna Maricchiolo ◽  
Mauro Giacomantonio ◽  
...  

Abstract. Little is known about epistemic motivations affecting political ideology when people make environmental decisions. In two studies, we examined the key role that political ideology played in the relationship between need for cognitive closure (NCC) and self-reported eco-friendly behavior. Study 1: 279 participants completed the NCC, pro-environmental, and political ideology measures. Mediation analyses showed that NCC was related to less pro-environmental behavior through more right-wing political ideology. Study 2: We replicated these results with a nonstudent sample (n = 240) and both social and economic conservatism as mediators. The results of Study 2 showed that social conservatism mediated the relationship between NCC and pro-environmental behavior. Finally, NCC was associated with pro-environmental attitude through both social and economic conservatism.


Publications ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
João Pedro Baptista ◽  
Elisete Correia ◽  
Anabela Gradim ◽  
Valeriano Piñeiro-Naval

The relationship between a subject’s ideological persuasion with the belief and spread of fake news is the object of our study. Departing from a left- vs. right-wing framework, a questionnaire sought to position subjects on this political-ideological spectrum and demanded them to evaluate five pro-left and pro-right fake and real news, totaling 20 informational products. The results show the belief and dissemination of (fake) news are related to the political ideology of the participants, with right-wing subjects exhibiting a greater tendency to accept fake news, regardless of whether it is pro-left or pro-right fake news. These findings contradict the confirmation bias and may suggest that a greater influence of factors such as age, the level of digital news literacy and psychological aspects in the judgment of fake news are at play. Older and less educated respondents indicated they believed and would disseminate fake news at greater rates. Regardless of the ideology they favor, the Portuguese attributed higher credibility to the sample’s real news, a fact that can be meaningful regarding the fight against disinformation in Portugal and elsewhere.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Derks

This paper attempts to understand the phenomenon of so-called 'unnatural' voting (right-wing voting by lower-status groups). Most scholars explain this phenomenon with cultural motives, such as working-class authoritarianism, yet they assume that it contradicts their economic interests and motives. Although my findings corroborate the importance of working-class authoritarianism, I contend that a working-class vote for the right can also be explained by economic attitudes. Drawing on the theory of populism, I will examine the relationship between cultural attitudes (including authoritarianism and ethnocentrism) and economic rightist attitudes concerning social policy and the welfare state. Economic populism is characterised by egalitarianism as well as anti-welfarism. By addressing economic populism, right-wing parties are able to reconcile their discourse with the economic attitudes of lower status groups. The empirical relevance of this hypothesis is tested on the case of Flanders (Belgium).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Czarnek ◽  
Małgorzata Kossowska ◽  
Paulina Szwed

As the relationship between ideology and attitudes towards vaccinations is usually analysed using data collected in the US context, in this report we focus on the vaccination attitudes in Europe, with a special focus on Poland. The current findings show that the effects of ideology on vaccine attitudes are insignificant when European context is considered. Instead, we found that ideology interact with political interest: among people interested in politics, right-wing ideology had negative effect on vaccine attitudes and beliefs, whereas for people not interested in politics, the effects of ideology were insignificant. However, the interaction effects were rather modest and did not provide support for the hypothesis that there is a “liberal bias” against vaccination. We suggest that it insignificant effects of ideology on vaccine attitudes in the European context is related to the fact that vaccines have not become a strongly politicized issue as it is in the US.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-182
Author(s):  
Maria Poggi Johnson

In his trilogy of space travel novels, published between 1938 and 1945, C.S. Lewis strikingly anticipates, and incarnates in imaginative form, the insights and concerns central to the modern discipline of ecotheology. The moral and spiritual battle that forms the plot of the novels is enacted and informed by the relationship between humans and the natural environment, Rebellion against, and alienation from, the Creator inevitably manifests in a violent and alienated attitude to creation, which is seen as something to be mastered and exploited. Lives and cultures in harmony with the divine will, on the other hand, are expressed in relationships of care and respect for the environment. The imaginative premise of the Trilogy is that of ecotheology; that the human relationships with God, neighbour, and earth and are deeply and inextricably intertwined.


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