Interindividual differences in environmentally relevant positive trait affect impacts sustainable behavior in everyday life

Abstract

Emotions are powerful drivers of human behavior that may make people aware of the urgency to act to mitigate climate change and provide a motivational basis to engage in sustainable action. However, attempts to leverage emotions via climate communications have yielded unsatisfactory results, with many interventions failing to produce the desired behaviors. It is important to understand the underlying affective mechanisms when designing communications, rather than treating emotions as simple behavioral levers that directly impact behavior. Across two field experiments, we show that individual predispositions to experience positive emotions in an environmental context (trait affect) predict pro-environmental actions and corresponding shifts in affective states (towards personal as well as witnessed pro-environmental actions). Moreover, trait affect predicts the individual behavioral impact of positively valenced emotion-based intervention strategies from environmental messages. These findings have important implications for the targeted design of affect-based interventions aiming to promote sustainable behavior and may be of interest within other domains that utilize similar intervention strategies (e.g., within the health domain).

Nature connectedness in the climate change context: Implications for climate action and mental health.

“…This is an important finding given the urgent need to find ways to encourage collective climate motivation (Fritsche & Masson, 2021). We note, however, that any messages or interventions targeting climate worry require careful design and evaluation to ensure they do not result in backfire effects (reductions in the desired behavior; Doell et al, 2021) or negative mental health outcomes (Brosch, 2021).…”

“…Recently, there has been increasing attention on the pleasurable feelings associated with pro-environmental action, referred to as “warm glow” (Hartmann et al, 2017; Jia & Linden, 2020). According to this literature, experienced and anticipated warm glow from acting sustainably can contribute to an upward spiral of action and well-being (Doell et al, 2021; Schneider et al, 2021). Future studies could test whether people more connected to nature are more susceptible to the warm glow effect and examine the role of warm glow in preventing negative climate emotions from turning into general psychological distress.…”

Association of depression symptoms and sleep quality with state-trait anxiety in medical university students in Anhui Province, China: a mediation analysis

“…Additionally, sleep deprivation also amplifies basic emotional responses and increases negative emotional states such as anxiety [47], and these emotional dysfunctions, such as anxiety, affect their normal interpersonal interactions [48]. Anxiety disorders eventually develop into depression symptoms due to interpersonal dysfunction [49].…”

Analysis of the Effect of Mindfulness Behavior Intervention Combined with Progressive Breathing Training on Pulmonary Function Rehabilitation in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“…At present, mindfulness behavior intervention is widely used in the psychological intervention of chronic pain diseases, anxiety and depressive disorders, and cancer patients, and has achieved good results. Some studies [ 25 ] have shown that mindfulness behavior intervention can help patients develop good behavioral habits, strengthen lung function through breathing training, reasonable exercise, etc., balance sympathetic nerve activity, and enhance the quality of life. In addition, the behavioral intervention carried out health behavior guidance based on progressive breathing training, by encouraging patients to ask and answer questions and encouraging positive communication between patients and friends can strengthen their beliefs to cope with the disease and cooperate with treatment and breathing training in a good state [ 26 ].…”