Can Trust in Climate-Skeptical Governments Inhibit Pro-Environmental Action? Implications for Public Participation and Democratic Innovations

Mirko Duradoni (), Franca Paola Severino, Gabriele Neri, Maria Fiorenza, Norma Lindemann, Luisa Puddu and Andrea Guazzini
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Mirko Duradoni: Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultural Studies, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
Franca Paola Severino: Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultural Studies, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
Gabriele Neri: Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultural Studies, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
Maria Fiorenza: Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultural Studies, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
Norma Lindemann: Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultural Studies, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
Luisa Puddu: Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultural Studies, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
Andrea Guazzini: Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultural Studies, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy

Societies, 2025, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: In the scientific literature, being a woman and citizens’ trust are factors that are often linked to a higher frequency of pro-environmental behaviors. However, when a government adopts a skeptical narrative on climate change, describing natural disasters as mere ’tragedies’, extreme weather events as ’bad weather’, and simplifying climate change to ’unpredictable weather’, does citizens’ trust still serve as a factor that promotes pro-environmental behaviors? This study aimed to conduct a sex-sensitive analysis of the relationship between trust in the current Italian government (i.e., Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni) and pro-environmental behaviors related to conservation, transportation, environmental citizenship, and food consumption in a sample of 501 Italian citizens (65.1% cisgender women). This study reveals that greater trust in a climate-skeptical government is associated with lower implementation of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) and that this effect is less pronounced among women compared to men. These results highlight the importance of considering citizen’s trust in public participation, particularly in contexts where governmental narratives do not favor pro-environmental policies.

Keywords: pro-environmental behaviors; citizens’ trust; trust in the government; democratic innovation; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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