The relationship between religious persuasion and climate change attitudes in Australia

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that religious persuasion can have an impact on environmental attitudes, however less research of this kind has focused on the relationship between religious persuasion and climate change attitudes. Using a survey of 1,927 Australians we examined links between membership of five religious groupings and climate change attitudes, as well as membership of climate change household segments that differ in their acceptance of human induced climate change and the need for policy responses. Differences were found across religious groups in terms of their belief in human induced climate change, consensus among scientists, their own efficacy and the need for policy responses. Using ordinal regression, some of these differences were shown to be due to sociodemographic factors, knowledge, environmental attitude or political conservatism. However, significant effects due to religious persuasion remained, and they range from medium to large in size. Options for responding to these effects are discussed.