Pro-Environmental Nationalism is Still Nationalism: How Political Identity and Prior Attitudes Affect Nationalist Framing Effects on Support for Climate Action

Abstract

ABSTRACT Based on research on framing effects and biased cognition, this paper investigated the limitations of framing pro-environmental messages in nationalist terms that emphasize the importance of upholding national pride, security, and leadership in global climate mitigation – a growing tendency among pro-environmental governments. Evidence from two survey experiments in the United States (N = 1075 and N = 205, respectively) supported the hypothesis that political identities and prior attitudes drove the effects of pro-environmental nationalist frame exposure on climate attitudes by influencing which considerations remained salient in people’s minds following exposure. Study 1 showed that Republicans (versus Democrats) and nationalist participants assigned more salience to nationalist considerations following exposure, resulting in higher ethnoculturalism and, subsequently, lower climate mitigation support and higher climate scepticism. Study 2 largely replicated these results. Thus, this paper highlighted the limitations of framing pro-environmental information in nationalist terms to increase support for climate action.