Examining COVID-19-Related Changes toward More Climate-Friendly Food Consumption in Germany

#Fighteverycrisis: A psychological perspective on motivators of the support of mitigation measures in the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic

Both crises, the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic need collective mitigation support. In the context of COVID-19, the support of mitigation strategies has found its way to the forefront of debates. Our aim was to contribute empirical evidence to this debate by investigating mitigation behaviors across both crises and discussing similarities and differences. To this end, we drew on the Norm Activation Model and the concept of Social Identity to understand individuals' support of mitigation strategies in the climate crisis and their support of governmental strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus. Data were gathered within a Germany-wide survey (N = 3092) carried out in June and July 2020. Three predictors significantly explained the support of mitigation strategies in both crises: (1) The awareness that the entire society is affected by the pandemic emerged as the strongest predictor for support of COVID-19 mitigation strategies, whereas (2) social identification with others making efforts to mitigate the climate crisis was the strongest predictor for support of climate crisis mitigation strategies. (3) Efficacy expectations that together with others one can make a substantial contribution to mitigate the respective crisis predicted support of mitigation strategies in the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis to similar proportions. The results point to the need for targeting the communication of mitigation strategies in a pandemic on raising awareness for the collective nature of the problem whereas strengthening efficacy expectations and feelings of belonging, e.g. through participation processes, could generally strengthen the support of mitigation strategies in both crises.

How do appraisal as threat or challenge, efficacy, and environmental quality affect wellbeing in the COVID-19 pandemic?

BACKGROUND

In crises, it is of great relevance to identify mechanisms that help people to maintain a certain level of wellbeing. This paper investigates whether appraising the COVID-19 pandemic as a threat vs. as a challenge has different effects on subjective wellbeing during the pandemic. Furthermore, we study the role of the perceived local environmental quality for individuals' subjective wellbeing.

METHODS

Via online survey study with two times of measurement (N = 758), we investigated (a) the prediction of participants' wellbeing in June 2020 and June 2021 through five variables and (b) how these five variables moderated within-participant differences in subjective wellbeing over time.

RESULTS

Results showed that a stronger perception of the pandemic as a threat (feeling worried) and a lower education in June 2020 predicted a lower subjective wellbeing in 2020 and 2021. A stronger challenge appraisal (feeling confident), higher efficacy expectations, and positive perceptions of the local environmental quality in June 2020 predicted a higher wellbeing in 2020 and 2021. There was no substantial change in participants' aggregated wellbeing over time. However, those who perceived the pandemic more as a threat in June 2020 struggled more with negative changes in their wellbeing, whereas those who perceived the pandemic more as a challenge reported a higher wellbeing.

CONCLUSION

It seems key to support people in activating positive feelings to successfully cope with crises.