Towards a psychology of religion and the environment

The perceived potential of religion in mitigating climate change and how this is being realized in Germany and Switzerland

Scholars of religion have repeatedly debated and contested the role of religion and spirituality in combatting climate change. In recent years, the potential of religion has also become an issue among natural scientists, politicians, environmental organizations, and civil society. Indeed, the potential of religion to mitigate climate change is perceived both internally and externally, and various expectations are placed on religion. This article examines the perceived potential of religion in mitigating climate change and how this is being realized. Based on 38 interviews, conducted with representatives from religious communities and umbrella organizations in Germany and Switzerland, we focus on the areas of values, political influence, and materialization. Our results show that the potential of religion in addressing climate change remains largely unfulfilled despite increasing steps in this direction.

The Potential of Religion for Promoting Sustainability: The Role of Stewardship

The present paper discusses how religious, theistic stewardship-the belief that humans have a responsibility to take care of the world that God created and has entrusted to humankind-promotes pro-environmental support among religious individuals. Reviewing the existing literature, we describe how religious stewardship belief may shape cognitions and emotions regarding various environmentally relevant objects (i.e., natural environment, environmental problems, and pro-environmental behaviors) and how these cognitions and emotions lead to motivation to engage in pro-environmental action. We also discuss religious beliefs that may suppress the positive effects of stewardship belief as well as key factors that may moderate the effects of stewardship belief. Last, we discuss potential ways of leveraging religious stewardship in messaging and communications for behavioral change toward sustainability. Although the existing evidence on whether religion helps or hinders environmental protection is mixed, our review suggests that stewardship belief clearly provides great potential for environmental support among religious communities.

Activating faith: pro-environmental responses to a Christian text on sustainability

With growing attention on the importance of values, beliefs and worldviews in shaping environmental outcomes, there remains little research on religion and sustainability transformations. We explored the impact of the Archbishop of Canterbury's environmentally themed Lent Book 2020 "Saying Yes to Life" on environmental values, attitudes and behaviours of lay Christians. An online survey administered before and after reading the book assessed environmental values, New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), connectedness to nature and environmental behaviours, and collected open responses to questions about participants' perceptions. Follow-up focus groups were also held to understand experiences of cognitive and behavioural change. Analysis of paired data revealed significant increases in environmental behavioural intentions after completing the book, especially for energy use, food and recycling. Some evidence for strengthening of NEP scores and connectedness to nature was also found. Open text responses corroborated with quantitative measures of behaviour change. Additionally, the majority of participants reported some form of reinforcement, confirmation, or further development or change in their beliefs and attitudes. This included a reduction in anthropocentric beliefs and greater appreciation of and obligation towards the natural world. Focus group discussions revealed diverse participant experiences, including having pre-existing theological beliefs affirmed, responding with new practical actions, connecting with spiritual experiences, and discovering systemic origins of unsustainability. Findings suggest potential for environmental interventions within religious contexts to shape mindsets, integrate theological views with environmental concerns, activate latent beliefs, and initiate and sustain pro-environmental behaviour. More intentional engagement with religion may facilitate transformative change for sustainability internally and externally, and across individual, organisational and societal domains.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-022-01197-w.

Examining the Relationships between Religious Affiliation, External and Internal Behavioural Factors, and Personal Carbon Footprint

Different studies have shown that daily consumption is responsible for a large portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Since consumption is closely linked to individuals’ preferences, motivations, and beliefs, the personal carbon footprint should be a good indicator of actual consumers’ commitments towards climate change mitigation. Previous research has shown the importance of considering individual-level religion as an antecedent of mitigation outcomes, although the evidence is inconclusive in this regard. This study examines the relationship between religious affiliation and personal carbon footprint, following socio-psychological models that consider behaviour to depend on external or situational factors, and internal or intrinsic ones. A questionnaire was carried out on a random sample of the Spanish population (N = 845) to determine the main drivers of carbon footprint for different religious groups. External factors (i.e., socioeconomic) and internal ones related to climate change knowledge, commitment, and intractability, on the one hand, and value orientation, nature-relatedness, and the main motivation to conserve nature on the other hand, were analysed. Intergroup differences in the personal carbon footprint were found, especially based on sex, age group, and type of work among external factors and value orientation, the main motivation for conserving nature and climate change perceived commitment within the internals. Intragroup differences for food carbon footprint were also observed, as follows: the main motivation to conserve nature and the level of commitment implied differences among Catholic believers, whereas value orientation and the level of commitment implied differences among non-believers. Our conclusions suggest, on the one hand, the importance of examining the religion-mitigation link in a socio-psychological framework and, on the other, the need for further study within groups to promote better behavioural responses to climate change.

Manipulating Environmental Commitment: A Replication and Extension

Environmental commitment, the subjective experience of dependence on the natural environment, is marked by a long-term orientation and psychological attachment towards the natural environment. The current research replicates and extends previous research on temporarily increasing environmental commitment (Davis et al., 2009). We employed Davis et al.'s manipulation in two experimental studies (one laboratory, one online): we asked participants to spend time writing either about ways in which they are interdependent with the natural environment (high commitment manipulation) or unconnected with the environment (low commitment manipulation). In both studies we replicated the key finding that reflecting on one's interdependence with the environment increases commitment. We extended the previous research by finding evidence that this commitment effect was mediated by satisfaction with one's relationship to the environment. We did not replicate the original findings that the interdependence manipulation influences environmental behavioral intentions.