Moral Frames and Climate Change Policy Attitudes*

Abstract

ObjectiveThis article compares the effects of various climate change issue frames (deontological‐moral, empirical‐scientific, and economic) on support for climate change mitigation policies.MethodsUsing an issue‐framing survey experiment conducted on Amazon Mechanical Turk, we assess framing effects on climate change policy support using ordinary least squares regression.ResultsWe find mixed evidence regarding frame effectiveness. Religious moral frames and economic efficiency frames are ineffective, whereas scientific frames, secular moral frames, and economic equity frames are effective at increasing overall policy support. Additionally, the positive science frame and economic equity frame reduce the ideological divide in climate policy support.ConclusionThe effects of issue framing on climate policy support are mixed. Frames that we expected conservatives to be responsive to (religious morality; economic efficiency) fail to change support for climate policy. Frames that emphasize science, secular morality, and economy equity have the potential to increase public support for climate change policies.