Global Environmental Psychology

Climate Activism and Coping With Eco-Emotions: The Roles of Action, Collective Emotional Engagement, and Self-Care

Britta Eklöf — 2026-08-04

This study examines how participation in the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion influences individuals in coping with difficult eco-emotions and psychosocial factors contributing to fluctuations between them. Using the three dimensions of coping in Pihkala’s process model of eco-anxiety — Action, Emotional Engagement, and Self-care — as a theoretical framework, we conducted a thematic analysis of interviews with current and former Extinction Rebellion activists in Sweden. Findings reveal that Extinction Rebellion support Emotional Engagement by providing social validation, normalization, and collective ‘holding’ of eco-emotions, although individual need for collective emotional engagement vary. We show how taking action in Extinction Rebellion may function as a coping strategy when perceived as socially or instrumentally meaningful, which can be undermined by conflicts or losing contact with one’s working group. Participants highlighted Extinction Rebellion’s norms of balancing action and self-care, yet former activists described how personality and strong eco-emotions of guilt and responsibility undermined this balance, triggering exhaustion and prolonged distancing. Overall, this study illustrates psychosocial factors within climate activism that may either enable or disable coping strategies for individuals. We also highlight the importance of recognizing variation in coping preferences and needs which is important for effective collaboration and societal adaptation during the climate transition.

Always on My Mind: Stakeholder Perspectives on (Micro)Plastic Pollution in Indonesia

Fiona Preston-Whyte — 2026-08-04

Research into the consequences of, and behavioural adaptation to (micro)plastic pollution is increasing, yet comparatively little focuses on non-WEIRD countries, despite them being disproportionately affected. This study examines self-assessed pro-environmental and health-protective behaviour in Kendari City, Indonesia. It utilises a mixed methods approach of a quantitative online questionnaire (N = 585) with Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) and qualitative in-person interviews (N = 72) while considering psychological variables (subjective knowledge, experience, concern and attitude) and behaviour for different stakeholder groups (combined, civil society, and involved groups). The MRA (p < .001) showed a significant positive link between subjective knowledge and pro-environmental behaviour among combined stakeholders, civil society, and involved groups. The qualitative questionnaire supported this finding for the reduction of waste production. Experience of plastic pollution in local neighbourhoods and the broader environment, as well as exposure to microplastics through consumption, were associated with pro-environmental behaviours when all stakeholder groups were analysed together. For civil society stakeholders specifically, experience of plastic pollution in the environment and exposure to microplastics through consumption were also linked to increased pro-environmental behaviour. In contrast, observing plastic pollution in their own neighbourhoods was significantly associated with lower levels of pro-environmental behaviour. Psychological links to health-protective behaviour were more nuanced. Overall, our study could not fully establish a link between health-protective behaviour (willingness to consume seafood and seafood consumption) and psychological variables. The qualitative questionnaire found that involved groups (94%), but not civil society (20%), are aware of policies addressing marine litter in Indonesia. The policies are deemed ineffective by 48% of involved groups and 80% of civil society. The pro-environmental results indicate an opportunity to leverage knowledge to extend pro-environmental behaviours to combat plastic pollution, especially if building on existing behaviours focused on reducing plastic waste production.

At a Crossroads: The Future of Global Environmental Psychology

Isabell Richter — 2026-08-04

Examining Climate Emotions That Accompany Personal Experiences Of Climate Change: A Dynamic Network Analysis

Michelle Ng — 2026-08-04

Climate change elicits emotional responses for many individuals — especially those who have personally experienced its impacts. While it is widely accepted that climate emotions co-occur at one time point and change over time, little is known about the temporal dynamics among climate emotions (that is, their relations over time) and how those dynamics differ based on personal experiences of climate change. In this study, we applied a multivariate multilevel model to five-wave panel data collected from 3,936 American adults to examine the dynamics among 11 climate emotions that accompany personal experiences of climate change. We observed inhibitory and excitatory dynamics between different pairs of climate emotions, with some emotions (like pride) exhibiting greater sensitivity to others and some emotions (like anxiety) appearing more central within the emotional network. In general, participants with fewer personal experiences of climate change exhibited more interdependence among their climate emotions than those with more. Taken together, our results suggest that climate emotions, which underpin both climate action and well-being, change interdependently and that individuals’ lived experiences of climate change shape how their entire climate emotion network changes over time.

How to Deal With Negative Climate Emotions? An Experimental Study on Emotion Regulation in the Context of the Climate Crisis Among Activists and Non-Activists

Severin Hennemann — 2026-04-30

Emotion regulation (ER) is essential for psychological resilience amid climate change. This preregistered study evaluated the effectiveness of two ER strategies — reappraisal and expressive suppression — in reducing negative emotional responses to climate-related imagery in climate activists and non-activists. In line with previous research on ER in non-environmental contexts, we expected reappraisal to be a more effective ER strategy than suppression. A sample of 274 individuals (75 activists and 199 non-activists) participated in an online experiment. In 24 trials, participants were presented with images from the Affective Climate Images Database and instructed to either apply reappraisal, suppression, or passively observe the image (control trials). As indicators of ER effectiveness, we assessed and compared pre- and post-regulation ratings of affective valence and arousal. Additionally, participants indicated the effort of implementing the ER strategies. As hypothesized, reappraisal emerged as the most effective strategy, while suppression was even less effective than merely viewing the images in the control trials. Reappraisal and suppression effectiveness did not differ between activists and non-activists, but activists found reappraisal more effortful than non-activists. Neither reappraisal nor suppression effectiveness was significantly associated with self-reported pro-environmental behavior. Our findings indicate a high-effectiveness-high-effort trade-off for reappraisal and underline the ineffectiveness of suppression when confronted with climate change's consequences.

What Motivates Individuals or Groups to Engage in Commons Initiatives? A Scoping Review

Vincent Aggrey — 2026-04-30

Who joins commons initiatives, and why? This paper presents a scoping review of 53 theoretical and empirical studies from 2004 to 2023, focusing on the sociodemographics of commoners and their individual and group motivations for joining. The review reveals that a wide range of people participate in commons initiatives for a variety of complex reasons. Their decision to join may be influenced by normative motives, such as biospheric values and feelings of ethical responsibility. They may be motivated by self-interest, such as positive outcome expectations, or by high self-efficacy beliefs and easy access to the initiative. In terms of group motivations for joining commons, we highlight social identity, collective efficacy beliefs, mutual support and reciprocity, collaborative decision-making, and trust. Applying a broad theoretical and geographical scope in our review enhanced our understanding of people who participate in commons initiatives in the Global North and South.

Communicating the Impact of Climate Change on Extreme Weather in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Laura Thomas-Walters — 2026-04-30

As climate change increasingly affects the likelihood and severity of extreme weather events such as flooding and heat waves around the world, it is more important than ever to encourage both mitigation and adaptation. As an important step, people need to understand the links between climate change and extreme weather. We conducted a preregistered online randomized experiment with over 10,000 participants across India, the UK, and the USA, three countries that are large annual emitters but have different patterns of extreme weather. We tested the impact of different numerical frames (percentage versus times) and types of extreme weather (heat waves versus flooding) on beliefs that climate change made extreme weather in 2023 more likely. All four message treatments had a significant effect, increasing the percentage of participants who believed climate change made extreme weather more likely by 4.5 to 6.1 percentage points. However, there was no main effect of specific event type or numerical framing. We found message treatments also increased worry about climate change in general, although impact on policy support or information-seeking behavior was limited. The findings of this study contribute to the scarce literature on which messages are effective at communicating extreme weather event attribution.

The Relation Between Character Strengths and Sustainable Consumption Behavior

Petra Jansen — 2025-12-23

The study aimed to investigate the relationship between character strengths and sustainable consumption. Moreover, the study examined differences in character strengths between individuals who follow vegan/vegetarian diets and those who are omnivores. Participants were 203 adults between 18 and 68 years. Significant correlations were found between sustainable consumption of food and the character strengths of kindness, forgiveness, curiosity, love of learning, prudence, zest, and judgment, and between sustainable consumption of clothes and the character strengths of hope, kindness, love, curiosity, love of learning, gratitude, and zest. Sustainable food consumption was predicted by spirituality, curiosity, prudence, and diet preference, and sustainable consumption of clothes was predicted by kindness, curiosity, and diet preference. To conclude, the study has revealed some relations between character strengths and sustainable consumption, hinting that inner transformational qualities could be essential to behaving sustainably. However, the relations are weak. This study can only be seen as a first step towards a deeper analysis of internal transformative qualities for sustainable behavior. In general, well-powered intervention studies with fostering values or connectedness must be conducted to investigate if internal transformative qualities are relevant for a change toward sustainable behavior.

Impact of a Default Nudge Intervention on Plant-Based Milk Consumption in a UK University Café

Katie Major-Smith — 2025-12-23

Encouraging plant-based food consumption among western consumers is vital for reducing the environmental impacts of animal agriculture. This study examined whether a default nudge intervention increased plant-based milk consumption in a UK university café using an ABAB experimental design. During the intervention phases, the default milk option was changed from dairy to oat milk. In the first intervention phase, customers were approximately three times more likely to consume plant-based milk when oat milk was the default option (from 16.6% to 51.9%). However, this effect was smaller in the second intervention phase compared to the first (from 51.9% to 46.0%), questioning the intervention’s long-term impact. Comparable data in the university’s second café (where no intervention occurred) found no differences in plant-based milk intake during the study period, suggesting that changes in plant-based milk consumption were due to the default nudge. Based on this intervention, the milk-based carbon footprint per drink reduced by an estimated 25%–34%. These findings suggest that, in a UK university café context, default nudges can encourage plant-based milk consumption and reduce dairy intake. This provides implications for adopting sustainable default nudges in the university and wider food sector to help reduce the environmental impacts of animal agriculture.

Optimal Delivery of Social Norms Feedback to Reduce Household Water Consumption

Ukasha Ramli — 2025-12-12

Providing households with consumption feedback can effectively reduce water and energy use. However, the efficacy may depend on the medium and frequency of the messages. In this longitudinal study spanning over two years, we report two experiments on household water use read via meter in the United Kingdom: one manipulating the frequency of feedback (N = 13,047), and one comparing the medium (email vs. paper) of the feedback messages (N = 18,896). Overall, the feedback interventions reduced water consumption by around 2%. There were no differences in delivering the treatment monthly vs. 3-monthly, and paper messages were effective, but emails were not. Almost all households reduced their consumption, although the effect was variable. These results inform psychological interventions and cost-effective messaging for water districts and perhaps other types of utilities.