Caring about one's legacy relates to constructive coping with climate change

IF 6.1 1区心理学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Journal of Environmental Psychology Pub Date : 2024-10-26 DOI:10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102471

Andrea Y.J. Mah , Stylianos Syropoulos , Ezra M. Markowitz

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Abstract

Climate change is an existential threat facing humankind, and one that we must productively cope with as its most severe consequences come to pass. In the present investigation we theorize that one way that people may cope with an existential threat is through personal legacy-building efforts. In three correlational studies (N = 855) including samples from the U.S. and a diverse global cohort including the Global South and East, we found that people construe their proenvironmental behaviors as legacy-building activities, and that doing so relates to the perceived effectiveness of a behavior, as well as the reported frequency of engaging in a behavior. Further, we found that people who were motivated to leave a legacy grounded in the desire to have a positive impact on others also tended to be more concerned about climate change, but not paralyzed by such concern, indicated by a negative or non-significant correlation with climate change anxiety, a positive correlation with constructive hope and active coping, and negative correlations with hope based in denial and avoidant coping.

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关心自己的遗产与建设性地应对气候变化有关

气候变化是人类面临的生存威胁，也是我们必须积极应对的威胁，因为它将带来最严重的后果。在本次调查中，我们推测人们应对生存威胁的一种方式是通过个人遗产建设。在三项相关研究（N = 855）（包括来自美国和全球不同地区（包括全球南部和东部）的样本）中，我们发现，人们将自己的环保行为视为遗产建设活动，这与他们对行为有效性的感知以及报告的行为频率有关。此外，我们还发现，那些出于对他人产生积极影响的愿望而愿意留下遗产的人也往往更加关注气候变化，但并没有因此而瘫痪，这表现在与气候变化焦虑呈负相关或不显著相关，与建设性希望和积极应对呈正相关，而与基于否认的希望和回避应对呈负相关。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Environmental Psychology Multiple-

CiteScore

10.60

自引率

8.70%

发文量

140

审稿时长

62 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Environmental Psychology is the premier journal in the field, serving individuals in a wide range of disciplines who have an interest in the scientific study of the transactions and interrelationships between people and their surroundings (including built, social, natural and virtual environments, the use and abuse of nature and natural resources, and sustainability-related behavior). The journal publishes internationally contributed empirical studies and reviews of research on these topics that advance new insights. As an important forum for the field, the journal publishes some of the most influential papers in the discipline that reflect the scientific development of environmental psychology. Contributions on theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of all human-environment interactions are welcome, along with innovative or interdisciplinary approaches that have a psychological emphasis. Research areas include: •Psychological and behavioral aspects of people and nature •Cognitive mapping, spatial cognition and wayfinding •Ecological consequences of human actions •Theories of place, place attachment, and place identity •Environmental risks and hazards: perception, behavior, and management •Perception and evaluation of buildings and natural landscapes •Effects of physical and natural settings on human cognition and health •Theories of proenvironmental behavior, norms, attitudes, and personality •Psychology of sustainability and climate change •Psychological aspects of resource management and crises •Social use of space: crowding, privacy, territoriality, personal space •Design of, and experiences related to, the physical aspects of workplaces, schools, residences, public buildings and public space