Psychology of Climate Change

Human behavior plays a critical role in causing global climate change as well as in responding to it. In this article, I review important insights on the psychology of climate change. I first discuss factors that affect the likelihood that individuals engage in a wide range of climate actions. Next, I review the processes through which values affect climate actions and reflect on how to motivate climate actions among people who do not strongly care about nature, the environment, and climate change. Then I explain that even people who may be motivated to engage in climate actions may not do so when they face major barriers to act. This implies that to promote wide-scale climate actions, broader system changes are needed. I discuss relevant factors that affect public support for system changes that facilitate and enable climate action. Finally, I summarize key lessons learned and identify important questions for future research.

Automated summary

Human behavior plays a critical role in causing and responding to global climate change. This article reviews important insights on the psychology of climate change, including factors influencing individual engagement in climate actions, the impact of values on climate actions, and the barriers that may prevent motivated individuals from taking action. The article also highlights the need for broader system changes to promote widespread climate actions, and discusses factors affecting public support for such changes. Key lessons learned and areas for future research are summarized.