Moral perceptions about environmentalism across ideological groups: Negative moral stereotypes threaten rightists’ moral self and trigger polarization

Abstract

In five studies conducted in Spain and the US, we tested whether rightists (vs. leftists) were more vulnerable to experiencing a threat to the moral self and were more likely to polarize when faced with negative moral stereotypes about environmentalism. Studies 1a–b established that the moral stereotype held by rightists about leftists regarding environmental issues was more positive than vice versa. Additionally, rightists had a more negative meta-stereotype than vice versa. Studies 2a–2b revealed that exposing participants to negative (vs. neutral) stereotypes about their groups’ morality in environmentalism led rightists (but not leftists) to experience a threat to their moral self-concept and polarized their environmental positions and voting intentions. Study 3 experimentally attenuated moral threats, buffering the effects observed in Study 2b. We conclude that the moral threat posed by negative moral stereotypes is key to understanding the polarization of environmental issues.