Emotional responses to climate change, mental health, and climate action: How are they related?

Abstract As climate change becomes a reality, people are becoming increasingly aware of the threats associated with global warming. Many people may experience climate change as an unremitting psychological stressor associated with high levels of concern, worry and anxiety, that can emerge even in the absence of short-term or direct effects. Because emotions are related both to mitigation behavior and to promoting resilience and well-being, studying people’s emotional responses to climate change is important. This study explores the links of different emotional responses to climate change with mental health and pro-environmental behavior, using an online survey of a nationwide representative sample in Israel. An online survey of a nationwide representative sample of Hebrew speakers (N=302) revealed high levels of negative emotions, along with low levels of climate anxiety and moderate levels of positive emotions and indifference. Both climate change anxiety and negative emotions were associated with impairment in mental health. Positive emotions predicted an increase in both private-sphere and collective pro-environmental behavior, whereas indifference predicted a decrease in both types of behavior. Climate change anxiety predicted an increase in collective but not in private-sphere pro-environmental behavior. The research findings extend our understanding of the role played by different emotional responses to climate change in explaining impairment in mental health and adaptive pro-environmental behavior.