Prejudice and discrimination against women has become increasingly subtle and covert (N. V. Benokraitis & J. R. Feagin, 1986). Unlike research on racism, little research about prejudice and discrimination against women has explicitly examined beliefs underlying this more modern form of sexism. Support was found for a distinction between old-fashioned and modern beliefs about women similar to results that have been presented for racism (J. B. McConahay, 1986;D. O. Sears, 1988). The former is characterized by endorsement of traditional gender roles, differential treatment of women and men, and stereotypes about lesser female competence. Like modern racism, modern sexism is characterized by the denial of continued discrimination, antagonism toward women's demands, and lack of support for policies designed to help women (for example, in education and work). Research that compares factor structures of old-fashioned and modern sexism and racism and that validates our modern sexism scale is presented.

Three daily diary studies were conducted to examine the incidence, nature, and impact of everyday sexism as reported by college women and men. Women experienced about one to two impactful sexist incidents per week, consisting of traditional gender role stereotypes and prejudice, demeaning and degrading comments and behaviors, and sexual objectification. These incidents affected women's psychological well-being by decreasing their comfort, increasing their feelings of anger and depression, and decreasing their state self-esteem. Although the experiences had similar effects on men's anger, depression, and state self-esteem, men reported relatively fewer sexist incidents, suggesting less overall impact on men. The results provide evidence for the phenomena of everyday prejudice and enlighten our understanding of the experience of prejudice in interpersonal encounters from the perspective of the target.*We would like to thank Mathilda du Toit for her help with the analyses.

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Four studies examine the strength of feelings of White guilt, the relationship between White guilt and possible antecedents to this guilt, and the consequences of White guilt for attitudes toward affirmative action. Even though mean White guilt tended to be low, with the mean being just below the midpoint of the scale, the range and variability confirms the existence of feelings of White guilt for some. White guilt was associated with more negative personal evaluations of Whites and the theoretical antecedents of stronger beliefs in the existence of White privilege, greater estimates of the prevalence of discrimination against Blacks, and low prejudice against Blacks. Finally, results indicate that White guilt mediated the relationship from White privilege and beliefs about the prevalence of discrimination to attitudes toward affirmative action, and both White guilt and prejudice independently predicted attitudes toward affirmative action.

African American college students reported their experiences with everyday forms of racism at a predominantly European American university using a daily diary format. Their reported incidents represented verbal expressions of prejudice, bad service, staring or glaring, and difficulties in interpersonal exchanges (e.g., rudeness or awkward and nervous behavior). Both women’s and men’s experiences with interpersonal forms of prejudice were common, often occurred with friends and in intimate situations, and had significant emotional impact on them in terms of decreasing their comfort and increasing their feelings of threat during the interaction. Moreover, anger was the most frequently reported emotional reaction to these events. Participants were not passive targets, however, with many responding either directly or indirectly to the incidents. Findings from this study converged upon patterns of results found in in-depth interviews and surveys while also adding information to a growing body of literature on everyday experiences with racism.

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE | VOL 5 | JULY 2015 | www.nature.com/natureclimatechange G lobal climate change is one of the major threats facing humanity. Human interactions with climate occur at all levels of social organization 1 , but so far research has focused largely on institutional actors (for example, governments, industries) and on the technological, demographic and economic trends that drive climate change. Factors that influence decisions and behaviour at the individual level have received significantly less attention 2 . However, individual behaviour is important 3 and ultimately drives societal change via adoption of technologies and support for policies. Unless we examine how people perceive climate change, what factors influence mitigation and adaptation behaviours and how climate change will affect human well-being, we will be unable to respond effectively as a society. Too much policy is based on oversimplifications and erroneous assumptions about these factors, for example, the assumption that informing individuals about climate change science is sufficient to affect decisions and behaviours 4-6 . Ignoring insights from psychological research can handicap progress towards a low-carbon, sustainable future 7,8 .Here, we review the unique contribution that a psychological approach 9,10 can provide for understanding and addressing climate change, complementing work from other disciplines. Psychological research employs rigorous empirical methods to investigate individual perceptions and cognitions, individual and collective behaviours, and psychological well-being related to climate change. This research incorporates physiological, cognitive, affective and interpersonal processes, as well as factors in the social, cultural, biophysical and engineered environments of individuals 5,11 . Some of the resulting insights are surprising or counterintuitive; in other instances, they serve as a reminder to consider factors that may be overlooked. Here we focus on three key areas in which psychological research contributes to the climate change literature: (1) public perceptions of climate change; (2) human behavioural drivers of climate change and mitigation responses; and (3) impacts of climate change on human well-being and adaptation responses ( Fig. 1). In each case, we review existing research and recommend key directions for future research. We conclude by considering the ways that psychologists can contribute to multi-and interdisciplinary teams to understand and inform climate change mitigation and adaptation.Human behaviour is integral not only to causing global climate change but also to responding and adapting to it. Here, we argue that psychological research should inform efforts to address climate change, to avoid misunderstandings about human behaviour and motivations that can lead to ineffective or misguided policies. We review three key research areas: describing human perceptions of climate change; understanding and changing individual and household behaviour that drives climate change; and examini...

Global climate change poses one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in this century. This article, which introduces the American Psychologist special issue on global climate change, follows from the report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change. In this article, we place psychological dimensions of climate change within the broader context of human dimensions of climate change by addressing (a) human causes of, consequences of, and responses (adaptation and mitigation) to climate change and (b) the links between these aspects of climate change and cognitive, affective, motivational, interpersonal, and organizational responses and processes. Characteristics of psychology that cross content domains and that make the field well suited for providing an understanding of climate change and addressing its challenges are highlighted. We also consider ethical imperatives for psychologists' involvement and provide suggestions for ways to increase psychologists' contribution to the science of climate change.

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