A 27-country test of communicating the scientific consensus on climate change

Communicating the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is real increases climate change beliefs, worry and support for public action in the United States. In this preregistered experiment, we tested two scientific consensus messages, a classic message on the reality of human-caused climate change and an updated message additionally emphasizing scientific agreement that climate change is a crisis. Across online convenience samples from 27 countries (n = 10,527), the classic message substantially reduces misperceptions (d = 0.47, 95% CI (0.41, 0.52)) and slightly increases climate change beliefs (from d = 0.06, 95% CI (0.01, 0.11) to d = 0.10, 95% CI (0.04, 0.15)) and worry (d = 0.05, 95% CI (-0.01, 0.10)) but not support for public action directly. The updated message is equally effective but provides no added value. Both messages are more effective for audiences with lower message familiarity and higher misperceptions, including those with lower trust in climate scientists and right-leaning ideologies. Overall, scientific consensus messaging is an effective, non-polarizing tool for changing misperceptions, beliefs and worry across different audiences.

From negative feelings to impairments: A longitudinal study on the development of climate change anxiety

People may experience anxiety and related distress when they come in contact with climate change (i.e., climate change anxiety). Climate change anxiety can be conceptualized as either emotional-based response (the experience of anxiety-related emotions) or impairment-based response (the experience of impairment in daily functioning). To date, it remains uncertain how these distinct manifestations of climate change anxiety are related. Conceptually, the experience of climate change anxiety may transform from an adaptive and healthy emotional response to an impairment in daily functioning. We conducted two two-wave longitudinal studies to examine the possible bidirectional relationships between three manifestations of climate change anxiety. We recruited 942 adults (mean age = 43.1) and 683 parents (mean age = 46.2) in Studies 1 and 2, respectively. We found that Time 1 emotion-based response was positively linked to Time 2 cognitive-emotional impairment, while Time 1 cognitive-emotional impairment was positively related to Time 2 functional impairment. In Study 2, we also found a bidirectional positive relationship between generalized anxiety and emotion-based climate change anxiety over time. Overall, our findings provide initial support to the temporal relationships between different manifestations of climate change anxiety, corroborating that climate change anxiety may develop from emotional responses to impairment in functioning.

The geo domain: a review on the conceptualization of geographical and geopolitical entities

Investigating how people represent the natural environment and abstract it into geographical (e.g., mountain) and geopolitical (e.g., city) categories is pivotal to comprehending how they move and interact with the places they inhabit. Yet, the conceptualization of geographical and geopolitical domains has received scant attention so far. To deal with that, we reviewed 50 articles tackling this topic. Most studies have focused on assessing the universality of these concepts-especially geographical ones-mainly using free-listing and ethnophysiographic methods. Current perspectives tend to favor a non-universalistic characterization of these kinds of concepts, emphasizing their high cross-linguistic and cross-cultural variability, especially when compared to other semantic domains. Since geographical and geopolitical features are not pre-segmented by nature, the role of categories imposed by humans is crucial for these concepts. Significantly, their variability does not only depend on "cross" differences: evidence suggests that the cognitive demand requested by the task, idiosyncratic characteristics of individuals such as expertise level, and the typology of inhabited environments are further factors impacting the conceptual flexibility of these domains. Exploring the factors influencing our understanding of geographical and geopolitical categories can provide valuable insights for instructing effective communication policies to enhance sustainable development and address ecological emergencies, taking into consideration diverse cultural backgrounds within different populations.

Seeing is more than believing: Personal experience increases climate action

Although global warming is a serious problem that influences numerous people worldwide, individuals are still reluctant to change their behaviours. The present research investigates how local hot temperatures affect climate action in non-Western groups. In Study 1, an analysis of temperature and information acquisition by Shanghai residents in 122 days found that heat increased attention and awareness of climate change. In Study 2 and Study 3, participants who were primed with heat-related perceptions were more likely to take climate action in private and public spheres. In Study 4, we further identified that people who experienced hot temperature events increased their beliefs and efficacy about climate change, which in turn motivated them to take more climate action. Importantly, the mediating effects were significant both in the manipulation of heat and real-world settings. Consistent with our theoretical perspective, seeing is more than believing because personal experience increases climate action by fostering climate change beliefs and efficacy.

A social psychology of climate change: Progress and promise

Social psychologists have conducted research relevant to environmental problems for many decades. However, the climate crisis presents a new problem with distinctive aspects and distinctive urgency. This paper reviews some of the principal ways in which social psychological research and theory have approached the topic, looking at perceptions, behaviour, and impacts linked to climate change. Each of these areas is becoming more sophisticated in acknowledging the diversity of experience among groups that vary in demographics and social roles. I close by identifying three important facets for future research: a focus on social justice, an effort to participate in interdisciplinary efforts, and an emphasis on maximizing our impact.

Severity of environmental degradation and the impact on quality of life in Africa

Considering the mounting impacts of environmental degradation on the global ecosystem, this study offers an empirical contribution to the debate on whether there exists a significant nexus between environmental degradation and quality of life in Africa. Towards this end, we employ several econometric techniques to account for cross-sectional dependence, causality, and also present results based on IV-Lewbel 2SLS regression. Using a sample of African countries, the results indicate cross-sectional dependence due to spill-over effects from common factors in Africa, while the panel cointegration test affirms that environmental degradation have long-term consequences for quality of life only in sub-Saharan African region. Moreover, our results reveal a unidirectional causality between environmental degradation variables and quality of life at both the continent and sub-Saharan African region levels while a bi-directional causality between these variables are revealed for North Africa. On this evidence, our conjecture is that increased mineral extraction, greenhouse gas emissions, and deforestation, amongst other factors, may be driving this result. Hence, improvement in environmental quality in the continent would have an increasingly beneficial effects on the well-being and survival of the populace. The varied impacts across regions also suggest that policy initiatives toward mitigating the effects of environmental degradation should consider regional dynamics of the continent.

Thinking outside the ocean-climate nexus: Towards systems-informed decision making in a rapidly changing world

Despite repeated calls for more inclusive practices, approaches used to address current challenges within the ocean-climate nexus do not sufficiently account for the complexity of the human-social-ecological system. So far, this has prevented efficient and just decision-making and policies. We propose to shift towards systems-informed decision making, which values transdisciplinary system-thinking and cumulative impact assessments, and encourages multi-system collaboration among decision-makers in order to address the recurring technicality of policies and to foster just solutions that account for the needs of varied actors across the sustainable development spectrum.

Pro-Environmental Behavior and Climate Change Anxiety, Perception, Hope, and Despair According to Political Orientation

The main objective of this paper is to assess pro-environmental behavior, climate change anxiety, perception, hope, and despair in different political orientations. Our specific aims included to assess the validity of all the instruments used; to assess whether the factor structure of the scales were valid across political orientations; to evaluate their reliability; to assess differences concerning age, gender, and political orientation; to learn the variables that explain pro-environmental behavior; and to evaluate the moderating role of climate change perception, despair, and hope in the relationship between climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), multi-group CFAs (to calculate measurement invariance), multiple linear regressions, and moderations were performed. Results showed that pro-environmental behavior and climate change hope achieved the four assessed levels of invariance across different political orientations; climate change anxiety achieved the first three levels of invariance; and climate change perception and climate change despair achieved configural invariance. Climate change anxiety, personal experience with climate change, and climate change perception (total, reality, and consequences) presented higher values for the left political orientation than for the right or the center. Climate change anxiety variables contributed most to explaining pro-environmental behaviors. Hope, despair, and climate change perception (consequences) moderated the relationship between climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior. These results open up new avenues for investigation, specifically to understand why high levels of anxiety lead to more pro-environmental behaviors.

Estimating climate change and mental health impacts in Canada: A cross-sectional survey protocol

Climate change has severe and sweeping impacts on mental health. Although research is burgeoning on mental health impacts following climate and weather extremes, less is known about how common these impacts are outside of extreme events. Existing research exploring the prevalence of psychosocial responses to climate change primarily examines university students and uses non-random sampling methods. Herein, our protocol outlines an approach to data collection, processing, and analysis to estimate the population prevalence, magnitude, and distribution of mental health responses to climate change in Canada. A cross-sectional survey of youth and adults aged 13 years and older in Canada will be administered over the course of one year. The questionnaire will take approximately 10 minutes to complete orally and will be administered in English, French, and Inuktitut. The survey will consist of six sections: (1) self-reported past experiences of climate change; (2) self-reported climate-related emotions; (3) self-reported past and current impacts, anticipatory impacts, and vicarious experiences; (4) self-reported subclinical outcomes; (5) self-reported behavioural responses; and (6) demographics. A multi-stage, multi-stratified random probability sampling method will be used to obtain a sample representative of the Canadian population. We will use two different modes of recruitment: an addressed letter sent by postal mail or a telephone call (landlines and cellular). Population-weighted descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and weighted multivariable regression will be used to analyse the data. The results of this survey will provide the first national prevalence estimates of subclinical mental health responses to climate change outcomes of people living in Canada.

Hopium or empowering hope? A meta-analysis of hope and climate engagement

Researchers are increasingly examining whether hope can motivate action on climate change, or conversely, whether it might demotivate such action. We present a meta-analysis (k = 46) of quantitative studies examining the relationships between measures and manipulations of hope with climate engagement. On average, measured hope was associated with greater climate engagement (r = 0.18); however, this effect differed based on the target of hope. Hope regarding the possibility of respondents taking action was particularly strongly associated with greater engagement (r = 0.40), while in contrast, hope grounded in climate change not being a problem was associated with less engagement (r = -0.40). Hope in response to climate change generally, and domain-general hope, were only weakly associated with greater engagement (rs = 0.13, 0.20). On average, hope manipulations fostered increased engagement, though the increase was small (Cohen's d = 0.08). Subgroup analyses suggested two promising types of hope manipulations warranting future research: personal efficacy (k = 2, d = 0.18) and in-depth (k = 2, d = 0.49). In contrast, messages suggesting societal efficacy (i.e., providing a sense of possibility that climate change could be addressed) did not significantly or substantially boost (nor discourage) engagement (d = 0.05), and status quo-framed messages (i.e., messages highlighting that environmental conditions could stay the same if climate action is taken) had a marginally significant negative effect on engagement (d = -0.18). After excluding a single outlier, the extent to which manipulations increased hope were not correlated with increases in climate engagement, suggesting the possibility that hope might be incidental to the success of some manipulations rather than a necessary component for promoting engagement. Overall, our meta-analysis does not suggest that increasing hope decreases climate engagement, with the possible exceptions of denial hope and status quo framed messages. Conversely, however, results provide partial yet inconclusive evidence for the hypothesis that increasing hope increases climate engagement. Given the existing published literature, we argue that future researchers should consider study designs that align with theoretical perspectives on how hope promotes climate engagement (e.g., longitudinal designs) and also consider directly assessing populations of interest (e.g., climate activists).

New Ecological Paradigm and third culture kids: Multicultural identity configurations, global mindset and values as predictors of environmental worldviews

Ecological degradation threatens human survival, increasing the need to understand factors related to pro-environmental attitudes and worldviews. In a globalising world, new paradigms arise as central to social sciences, including the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and the multicultural identities of individuals raised between the cultures, third culture kids (TCKs). NEP is an ecocentric perspective that stresses the interdependence between nature and humans, opposite to anthropocentrism. TCKs' exposure to cultural diversity during developmental years might support global issues engagement and ecocentric worldviews. The present study focused on non-Western TCKs (N = 399; mean age 21 years), aiming to explore whether multicultural identity configurations (integration, categorisation, compartmentalisation), values dimensions (self-transcendence, openness and conservation) and global mindset predicted ecocentric and anthropocentric worldviews. The results demonstrated that TCKs were ecocentrically inclined. The path model revealed that ecocentrism could be directly positively predicted by integrated multicultural identity, self-transcendence and a global mindset. Anthropocentrism was predicted by multicultural identity categorisation and conservation values. Also, values of self-transcendence and openness buffered the impact of compartmentalisation and categorisation on ecocentrism and anthropocentrism. This study set innovative directions in multiculturism and environmentalism discourse through understanding a multicultural identity's relationships with pro-environmental attitudes.

The Trajectory of Anthropomorphism and Pro-Environmental Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model

Anthropomorphism of nature can promote pro-environmental behavior (PEB). However, its underlying mechanism and these age-related changes are unclear. We propose that connectedness to nature and environmental guilt mediate the relationship between anthropomorphism of nature and PEB. The present study tests the hypotheses based on a cross-sectional sample of 1364 residents aged 15-76 years, using structural equation modeling. We found that: (1) environmental guilt decreases, but PEB increases, with age; (2) anthropomorphism of nature decreases in early adulthood and increases in old age; (3) connectedness to nature decreases in mid-late adolescence and increases in early adulthood. Connectedness to nature and environmental guilt have a serial mediating effect in the relationship between anthropomorphism of nature and PEB, with cross-age stability. These findings contribute to enriching the understanding of PEB from the human and nature perspective, and enhancing anthropomorphism of nature that could promote PEB in residents at different ages, through connectedness to nature and environmental guilt.

Relationship between global identity and pro-environmental behavior and environmental concern: a systematic review

Global issues such as environmental problems and climate change, require collective efforts. Global identity has been linked to the promotion of pro-environmental behavior by international and environmental organizations. In environment-related research, this all-inclusive social identity has been consistently related to pro-environmental behavior and environmental concern, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This current systematic review seeks to examine past studies across disciplines that have reported findings on the relationship between global identity and the constructs of pro-environmental behavior and environmental concern and to synthesize findings on the potential pathways behind this relationship. Thirty articles were identified through a systematic search. We found that most studies reported a positive correlation, and the effect of global identity on pro-environmental behavior and environmental concern was stable across studies. Only nine of the studies empirically examined the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. Three major themes of these underlying mechanisms emerged: obligation, responsibility, and relevance. These mediators highlight the role of global identity in pro-environmental behavior and environmental concern via how individuals relate to other humans and how they appraise environmental problems. We also observed a heterogeneity in measurements of global identity and environment-related outcomes. As a topic of interest in multiple disciplines, a variety of global identity labels have been adopted, such as global identity, global social identity, humanity identity, Identification With All Humanity, global/world citizen, connectedness to humanity, global belonging, and psychological sense of global community. Self-report measures of behavior were common, but observations of actual behavior were rare. Knowledge gaps are identified, and future directions are suggested.

Climate Anxiety, Loneliness and Perceived Social Isolation

AIM

The goal of this study was to investigate the association of climate anxiety with loneliness and perceived social isolation (also stratified by age group).

METHODS

Data were taken from the general adult population aged 18 to 74 years (n = 3091). Data collection took place in March 2022. Climate anxiety was measured using the Climate Anxiety Scale. The De Jong Gierveld tool was used to quantify loneliness and the Bude and Lantermann tool was used to assess perceived social isolation.

RESULTS

Multiple linear regressions revealed an association between higher climate anxiety and higher loneliness (β = 0.06, p < 0.001) as well as higher perceived social isolation (β = 0.10, p < 0.001) among the total sample. A similar picture was identified in age-stratified regressions (i.e., among individuals aged 18 to 29 years, 30 to 49 years, and among individuals aged 50 to 64 years). However, climate anxiety was neither associated with loneliness nor with perceived social isolation among individuals aged 65 to 74 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Our current study adds first evidence regarding the link between climate anxiety and loneliness as well as perceived social isolation and can serve as a basis for upcoming studies.

The role of critical methodologies in climate psychology scholarship: themes, gaps, and futures

Climate change is a global problem caused by humans. Climate psychology scholarship aims to assist human beings in mitigating and adapting to this problem’s consequences. A brief scoping review was conducted first. The findings indicated that most of the literature was quantitative and theoretical in orientation, with only two qualitatively focused. A dearth of information exploring qualitative methodologies was found. The brief scoping review justified the need for this narrative review that explored the critical methodologies used by climate psychology scholars. The narrative review covered the period 2009–2022. Search terms included ‘climate psychology’ and ‘climate change and psychology’. A critical transformative paradigm informed the analysis. The narrative review found that climate psychology scholars in the selected articles actively addressed social justice and represented marginalised peoples’ voices through participatory action research, grounded theory, narrative theory, capabilities theory, discursive psychology, and strengths-based approaches. Three authors presented their positionality statements. Ten articles used a qualitative approach, while three used a quantitative approach. The use of interviews and thematic analysis was dominant. Researchers demonstrated an awareness of power and its influence on the research process. The methodology could be enhanced if they provided more detail on how they addressed power as a guide for future researchers. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to explore their perceptions of how critical methodologies can be more actively incorporated into climate psychology scholarship.

Envy and Environmental Decision Making: The Mediating Role of Self-Control

Emotions have strong impacts on decision making, yet research on the association between social interpersonal emotion and environmental decisions is limited. The present study uses experimental manipulation and cross-sectional investigation to examine how envy state and personality trait envy influence environmental actions. In Study 1, participants were manipulated to elicit benign and malicious envy, and it was found that benign envy acts as an antecedent of pro-environmental behavior, while malicious envy could contribute to behavior harmful to the environment. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and examined the mediator of self-control through a correlational study. Consequently, people who are high in malicious envy tend to engage in more environmentally harmful activities rather than living a sustainable life, while dispositional benign envy could significantly predict pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, the link between dispositional malicious envy and environmental behavior can be explained by trait self-control, while the mediating effect was silent in dispositional benign envy. The findings shed new light on the impact of social interpersonal emotion on making environmental decisions and its related psychological mechanisms.

The Relationship between Social Norms, Avoidance, Future Orientation, and Willingness to Engage in Climate Change Advocacy Communications

This study examined factors associated with willingness to engage in communication behaviors related to climate change advocacy. Data were collected as part of an online, longitudinal US study beginning in March 2020. Outcomes included willingness to post materials online, contact state legislators, and talk with peers about climate change. Covariates included climate change-related social norms, avoidance of climate change information, and perceptions of the future impact of climate change. A minority of the 586 respondents (23%) reported regular conversations about climate change, while approximately half of the respondents reported willingness to discuss climate change with peers (58%), post materials online (47%), and contact state legislators (46%). Strong predictors of willingness to engage in each climate change communications behaviors included climate change social norms, not avoiding climate change information, and believing that climate change will have a negative impact on the future. Findings indicate the importance of designing programs to foster increased climate change communications in order to promote community-level climate change advocacy norms.

Sociodemographic Characteristics and Dietary Choices as Determinants of Climate Change Understanding and Concern in Saudi Arabia

Climate change poses a global threat to public health. This study investigated the understanding of, and concern over, climate change in Saudi Arabia and examined the associations with sociodemographic characteristics and dietary choices. This cross-sectional study consisted of 280 participants recruited via an online survey. Of the study participants, 45% demonstrated a sufficient understanding of climate change, and 56% were highly concerned about climate change. Male sex, medium-high monthly income, high education, and governmental employees were determinants of sufficient understanding of and great concern over climate change. Participants who exhibited a high understanding of climate change score demonstrated significantly higher consumption of vegetables (3.47 ± 0.98) and vegetable oils (3.26 ± 1.07) than participants with a low understanding score (3.31 ± 0.96 and 3.00 ± 1.01, respectively) (p ≤ 0.01). Additionally, participants with higher concern of climate change scores exhibited lower consumption of red meat (p = 0.0001), poultry (p = 0.003), margarine (p = 0.02), and soy products (p = 0.04). The study revealed a poor understanding of, but great concern over, climate change. The intake of non-climate-friendly food was typically higher than that of climate-friendly food. These findings are critical for developing strategies to enhance awareness of climate change and encourage people to consume climate-friendly food to mitigate climate change and improve public health.

Dynamic Norms and Food Choice: Reflections on a Failure of Minority Norm Information to Influence Motivation to Reduce Meat Consumption

Recent research in the US shows the potential of providing information about minority norms that are increasing on positively influencing interest and engagement in desired behaviours. Although these are promising findings, there is little published research replicating or testing this effect outside the US. The study reported here is a direct replication of Sparkman and Walton’s (2017) research. We explored the effects of different kinds of normative information, particularly information about increasing (referred to as ‘dynamic’ or ‘trending’) minority norms, on interest in reducing meat consumption, attitudes toward reducing meat consumption, intentions to reduce meat consumption, and expectations to do so. Following pilot work (n = 197), we used a double-blind online study with three conditions: dynamic norm (n = 276), static norm (n = 284), and no norm (n = 286). The sample consisted of British people, with ages ranging from 18 to 79 (Mage = 37.21, SDage = 13.58; 56.38% female). There was no effect of dynamic norm information on any outcomes, including predictions about future meat consumption norms. Exploratory analyses suggest that political position and gender were associated with meat consumption outcomes. The findings are discussed in relation to conditions under which dynamic normative information may be successful in influencing motivation to engage in desired behaviours, and to possible improvements in research design.