Attitudes towards Trump Policies and Climate Change: The Key Roles of Aversion to Wealth Redistribution and Political Interest

Abstract

AbstractBoth psychological and political science researchers have pointed out that Trump policies embrace right wing and authoritarian dispositions. In turn, such dispositions have been related to climate change denial and aversion to wealth redistribution. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the relationship between individuals’ favorable attitude towards Trump and climate change skepticism. We aimed to understand two cruxes in this relationship: (i) whether the favorable attitude towards Trump influences climate change skepticism through the aversion to wealth redistribution and (ii) whether people's interest in politics interacts in the relationships between attitude towards Trump and two social outcomes—climate change denial and aversion to wealth redistribution. We considered a representative sample of the US electorate (ANES 2016 database, N = 4271), assessing attitudes towards Trump by aggregating several indicators concerning respondents’ evaluations of Trump. Interest in politics, aversion to wealth redistribution, and climate change skepticism had also been assessed. Results showed that favorable attitudes towards Trump related to climate change denial through the aversion to wealth redistribution. Moreover, the link between such attitudes and both climate change skepticism and aversion to wealth redistribution was stronger for people showing a greater interest in politics.