Belief Superiority in the Environmental Domain: Attitude Extremity and Reactions to Fracking Kaitlin Toner1 and Mark R. Leary2 Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment1 Duke University2 Introduction One previously unexamined obstacle to pro-environmental attitudes and actions is that people may think their existing beliefs are superior to the alternative views that education campaigns, activists, or policy makers are offering. Belief Superiority—the belief that one’s own beliefs or opinions are more correct than other viewpoints—has been demonstrated in several domains, including politics, religion, personal preferences, and etiquette.1,2,3 In all domains, the more extreme a person’s attitude or belief on a given topic, the more superior the person feels about that viewpoint. This study tested belief superiority in the environmental domain. Hydraulic Fracturing (“fracking”) is an increasingly common method of oil and gas extraction. Americans are roughly evenly split on this controversial issue, which has been particularly contentious in North Carolina, where regulations are currently being enacted. Correlates of belief superiority were examined to see if people who feel superior about their beliefs react differently from their humble peers when faced with conflicting beliefs. Results Environmental Attitudes and Belief Superiority Ten hierarchical regression analyses examined belief superiority as a function of the linear and quadratic effects of attitude rating for each environmental issue. The linear effect of attitude was significant only for fracking beliefs (see table at right). However, the quadratic effect of attitude rating was significant for all energy and environment issues except offshore drilling and the price of electricity. For all other issues, extreme scores on attitude ratings predicted greater belief superiority, and quadratic effects were stronger than linear effects (see figure below). These findings replicated previous research in other attitude domains. Consequences of Belief Superiority Hierarchical regression analysis tested the effects of participant support for or opposition to fracking in North Carolina, fracking-related belief superiority, whether the article are pro- or anti-fracking, and the interactions between them. Author Ratings Two composite scores were created using ratings of the author on items related to competence (competence, intelligence, knowledge, and credibility) and warmth (warmth, kindness, and morality). Analyses on these composite scores revealed significant three-way interactions: competence: t(87) = -2.99, p < .01, sr2 = .07; warmth: t(79) = -2.62, p < .01, sr2 = .07 (see figure below). Simple effects tests found that people high in belief superiority rated the author as more competent and warm when he agreed with them. Certainty Participants’ certainty about their views on fracking was assessed before and after reading the article to measure change in certainty. Belief superiority was the only significant predictor of this change: B = .11, t(90) = 2.02, p < .05, sr2 = .04. The more superior participants felt about their fracking beliefs, the more their certainty increased after reading an article on the topic, regardless of whether or not they agreed with it.   Linear Effect of Attitude on Belief Superiority Quadratic Effect of Attitude on Belief Superiority Topic sr2 β Fracking in NC .05 -.23* .10 .39*** Climate Change .00 .07 .37* Carbon Tax .01 .04 .22† Renewable Energy .06 . 60** Energy Efficiency . 04 . 22* Price of Gas -.89 . 41* Price of Electricity -.06 .16 Protect Environment -.08 .12 .53*** Offshore Drilling in NC .03 -.17 .11 Energy Independence .08 .47** Discussion As with other domains, the more extreme people’s position on energy and environmental topics, the more superior they believed their views were relative to alternative positions. People high in belief superiority rated the author of an article as more competent and warm when he agreed with them. This is particularly important given the primacy of warmth and competence in person perception and research showing that coldness ratings predict competition efforts.4 Perceiving the author as cold may thus lead people high in belief superiority to fight harder against him and his message. Hints emerged that belief superiority may be associated with greater polarization, as participants who were highly belief-superior became even more certain about their fracking beliefs after reading information about the topic—even if that information contradicted their beliefs. Method 96 people (39% men), aged 18-74 were recruited at an outdoor flea market in a North Carolina city in April 2013. Participants reported their beliefs about 10 controversial energy and environment issues: (1) climate change, (2) the creation of a carbon tax, (3) fracking in North Carolina, (4) investment in renewable energy resources, (5) energy efficiency regulations, (6) the price of gasoline, (7) the cost of electricity, (8) protection of the environment, (9) offshore drilling in NC, and (10) energy independence. For each topic, participants indicated their attitude on 5-point scales, then rated how much more correct their beliefs on that issue were compared to other people’s beliefs, using a 5-point scale (1 = no more correct than other viewpoints; 5 = totally correct—mine is the only correct view). Participants then read a bogus op-ed article arguing for or against fracking in North Carolina. After reading the article, participants rated the author’s warmth and competence and their own feelings of certainty about their fracking beliefs. References 1Toner, K., Leary, M. R., Asher, M. W., & Jongman-Sereno, K. P. (2013). Feeling superior is a bipartisan issue: Extremity (not direction) of political views predicts perceived belief superiority. Psychological Science, 24, 2454-2462. 2Hopkin, C. R., Hoyle, R. H., & Toner, K. (in press). Intellectual humility and reactions to opinions about religious beliefs. Journal of Psychology and Theology. 3Jongman-Sereno, K., Toner, K., & Leary, M. R. (2013, May). People who hold extreme attitudes feel superior in their beliefs even for trivial issues. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. 4Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 878-902. SPSP 2014 – Austin, TX Contact: Kaitlin Toner (kaitlin.e.toner@vanderbilt.edu)