Showing Moral Emotions When Advocating Against the Denial of Climate Change: A Study on the Role of Contempt

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in the social effects of emotional expressions within contemporary psychosocial studies, the impact of the expression of moral emotions, and in particular the expression of contempt, on the process of counteracting denial on threatening issues remains an under-researched area. This study examines the impact of a speaker's contemptuous facial expression on the audience's perception and emotional reactions during a speech aimed at breaking politicians' denial and inaction regarding climate change. The participants (N = 100) were randomly assigned to view either a neutral or a contemptuous facial expression of climate activist Luisa Neubauer, followed by an excerpt of her speech in which she criticises political inaction. The findings indicated that participants who observed the neutral expression perceived the speech as more strategic and cold than those who observed the expression of contempt, although the low scores in these perceptions were stated by both groups. Conversely, when invited to put themselves in the shoes of the audience to which the talk was originally addressed, participants who observed the expression of contempt indicated that they would experience greater happiness than those who observed the neutral expression. These findings highlight the significance of considering the multimodal aspects of communication. Indeed, when verbal condemnation is not accompanied by a congruent facial expression, the communicated message is perceived more negatively, thereby increasing the risk of failing to achieve the desired effect. Finally, the limitations and future perspectives are presented to further investigate the interaction between different moral emotions, audience characteristics, and the specific context of climate communication.