More information
Description
The proposed EmoClimateChangeAction project marks a step change in research on human aspects of climate change, proposing a series of four studies of emotional perception of climate change, its determinants, as well as its influence on mental health and climate action taking. The research will be based on data collected in Poland and Norway, two countries heavily dependent on fossil fuels, but with a different approach to environmental protection. First, we will develop a unique questionnaire aiming at assessing the degree and manifestations of climate change worry — mental distress caused by the awareness and anticipation of climate change consequences. To determine its relation to mental health, we will collect participants’ responses to a battery of clinical tests assessing tendencies to worry, general mental health issues, depression and anxiety. Although the questionnaire will be developed in Poland, it will be culturally validated to use in Norway. Second, the project will gather behavioral and demographic data from large samples in Poland and Norway to explain the links between the emotional perception of climate change, climate action and a range of environmental, individual and social factors. To the best of our knowledge this will be the first study of emotional reactions to climate change on such a scale using quantitative methods in Europe. Third, using rigorous methods of experimental psychology, we will conduct innovative research to determine how climate change appeals eliciting fear, sadness, anger and hope influence climate action and climate change worry. Fourth, we will employ the neuroimaging approach to directly measure brain responses to emotional climate change vignettes. The EmoClimateChangeAction project provides a novel framework for understanding emotional responses to climate change and their links to mental health and action taking in the face of this most pressing economic, social and environmental problem of our times.