What's in It for Them? A Developmental Science Perspective on Adolescent Climate Activism

IF 3.2 2区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL

Journal of Adolescence Pub Date : 2026-08-05 Epub Date: 2026-06-08 DOI:10.1002/jad.70187

Judith van de Wetering, Katharine Lee

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

In recent years, millions of adolescents have joined school strikes to demand climate action from governments and industries, standing in solidarity with young people from future generations and from vulnerable geographical regions (i.e., the Global South). The goal of the present study is to explore adolescents' climate activism from a developmental science perspective, analyzing how climate activism may be rooted in adolescents' developing identity and developmentally salient motives.

Methods

Eleven 14–18-year-old Dutch adolescent climate activists (six female, two male, one non-binary, two not disclosed) participated in an online semi-structured interview between September 2022 and 2023. Data were analyzed in NVivo through theoretical reflexive thematic analysis, exploring patterns of meaning across the dataset while embracing researchers' active, subjective, and reflective role in data analysis.

Results and Conclusions

We constructed three themes: “Activism is motivated by the desire to make contributions to a just world;” “Activism is an autonomous choice that helps explore and express who I am;” and “Activism makes me feel connected to (some but not all) others.” Taken together, the present analysis suggests that adolescents' climate activism—and pro-environmental engagement more generally—is driven by and satisfies their developmentally salient motives to contribute to a socially just world, to make autonomous choices, to explore and express their identity, and to feel connected to others. As such, our work sheds light on how we may promote and support adolescents' engagement in acts of solidarity to contribute to today's societal challenges, and suggests avenues for further research.

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这对他们有什么好处？青少年气候行动主义的发展科学视角。

导言：近年来，数以百万计的青少年参加了学校罢工，要求政府和行业采取气候行动，与后代和脆弱地理区域（即全球南方）的年轻人站在一起。本研究旨在从发展科学的角度探讨青少年的气候行动主义，分析气候行动主义如何根植于青少年的发展认同和发展显著动机。方法：11名14-18岁的荷兰青少年气候活动家（6名女性，2名男性，1名非二元，2名未公开）在2022年9月至2023年9月期间参加了一次在线半结构化访谈。在NVivo中，通过理论反思性主题分析来分析数据，探索数据集的意义模式，同时拥抱研究人员在数据分析中的主动、主观和反思作用。结果和结论：我们构建了三个主题：“行动主义的动机是为一个公正的世界做出贡献的愿望；”“行动主义是一种自主的选择，有助于探索和表达我是谁；”以及“行动主义让我感到与（一些但不是全部）其他人有联系。”综上所述，目前的分析表明，青少年的气候行动主义——以及更普遍的亲环境参与——是由他们为社会公正的世界做出贡献、做出自主选择、探索和表达自己的身份、感受与他人的联系等发展上的突出动机所驱动并满足的。因此，我们的工作阐明了我们如何促进和支持青少年参与团结行动，以应对当今的社会挑战，并为进一步研究提供了途径。

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 Adolescence PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL-

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

2.60%

发文量

123

期刊介绍： The Journal of Adolescence is an international, broad based, cross-disciplinary journal that addresses issues of professional and academic importance concerning development between puberty and the attainment of adult status within society. It provides a forum for all who are concerned with the nature of adolescence, whether involved in teaching, research, guidance, counseling, treatment, or other services. The aim of the journal is to encourage research and foster good practice through publishing both empirical and clinical studies as well as integrative reviews and theoretical advances.