Economic Inequality Brings About More Inaction Over Climate Change: The Role of Perception, Discussion, and Responsibility

Abstract

Emerging studies on climate change inaction predominantly focused on exploring its psychological roots. To extend this line of research, the present study was conducted to investigate whether, how and when economic inequality relates to climate change inaction taking into account subjective and objective economic inequality simultaneously. Utilising two large independent samples (Study 1: N = 1, 066; Study 2: N = 518), our research demonstrated causal links between higher subjective and objective economic inequality and increased climate change inaction. In societies with greater economic inequality, climate change inaction was more prevalent compared to those with lower economic inequality. Notably, these relations were mediated by climate change perception and moderated by climate change discussion and responsibility attribution, respectively. The findings advance existing research by identifying economic inequality as a novel antecedent of climate change inaction and further elucidating the underlying process and boundary condition. Additionally, these insights provide practical guidance for inaction-reduction in the context of climate change.