Environmental knowledge is inversely associated with climate change anxiety
This should explain things quite a bit...
This should explain things quite a bit...
Quote:
This study tests the hypotheses that overall environmental knowledge and climate-specific knowledge are inversely related to climate change anxiety, such that people who know more (less) about the environment in general, and about climate in particular, are less (more) anxious about climate change. Time lagged data were collected from N = 2,066 individuals in Germany. Results showed that, even after controlling for demographic characteristics, personality characteristics, and environmental attitudes, overall environmental knowledge and climate-specific knowledge were negatively related to climate change anxiety (both B = -.09, p < .001).
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The results of this study add to the growing body of evidence that higher domain-specific knowledge is associated with lower domain-associated anxiety. They also contribute to the emerging literature on the construct of climate change anxiety, which so far has focused on demographics, attitudes, and personality characteristics as predictors and neglected the role of environmental knowledge (Clayton 2020). In terms of practical implications, the main finding that environmental knowledge is negatively related to climate change anxiety suggests that efforts to improve environmental knowledge, for instance through educational and training interventions, may help reduce such anxiety. This seems important given demonstrated links between climate change anxiety and more general forms of mental ill-health, including generalized anxiety, depression, and distress (Schwartz et al. 2022; Searle and Gow 2010). These interventions could be targeted especially at younger people and people with higher environmental awareness and attitudes (e.g., climate scientists), who are at risk of experiencing higher climate change anxiety (Clayton 2020; Crandon et al. 2022; Verplanken et al. 2020).
However, consistent with previous research (Wullenkord et al. 2021), the average level of climate change anxiety in our sample was already quite low and, thus, it may not be possible to decrease it much further through interventions. It could also be questioned whether climate change anxiety has only (and always) negative consequences or, under certain circumstances, may even lead to positive outcomes. For example, recent research has suggested that engaging in collective action to address climate change can buffer the effect of climate change anxiety on depressive symptoms (Schwartz et al. 2022). Moreover, the measure used in our study is based on a definition of climate change anxiety as "a more clinically significant 'anxious' response" (Clayton and Karazsia 2020, p. 9). Future research should also focus on the potentially beneficial outcomes of more adaptive forms of climate change anxiety, such as practical anxiety (Pihkala 2020) or rational worrying (Verplanken and Roy 2013). Compared to clinical forms of climate change anxiety, these more adaptive forms may be constructively channeled into productive responses, such as increased information seeking and pro-environmental behavior (Verplanken et al. 2020).
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“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
- George Bernard Shaw
“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
- George Bernard Shaw