Populism, conspiracist beliefs and engaging in pro-environmental behaviors: the key role of political orientation

Personal characteristics such as populism, conspiracy theories, and political orientation have an impact on citizens' decision to engage in sustainable behaviors (Van der Linden, 2015; Prasad, 2019; Evensen, 2019; Lamb et al., 2020; Giuliani & Presaghi, 2023). However, due to the eclecticism of populism (Sensales, 2021), this construct does not seem to influence pro-environmental behaviors in a univocal way (Dalby, 2020; Ruitenberg, 2020; Lamb et al., 2020; Huber et al., 2021; Chazel & Dain, 2023). Therefore, the study aims to determine whether populism and conspiracist beliefs affect the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors and whether political orientation moderates these effects. Preliminary analysis on a sample of 288 Italian participants showed a significant positive indirect effect of populism on motivation towards sustainable behaviors (b = .322, se = .199, IC 95% .026; .787) through conspiracist beliefs among right-wing voters, but not among left-wing respondents. Results will be discussed according to the literature.