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Grounded by Mother Nature's Revenge
James Robert Breen1, Pamela Pensini1,2
1School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Experimental Psychology
|January 19, 2023
Summary
Attributing human qualities to nature (anthropomorphism) increased support for restricting leisure air travel to combat COVID-19 and climate change. This effect was mediated by environmental guilt, particularly for climate change mitigation.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Psychology
- Climate Change Communication
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Leisure air travel significantly contributes to climate change, yet restrictions face public opposition.
- COVID-19 travel restrictions gained public acceptance, suggesting potential for similar support for environmental measures.
- Anthropomorphism of nature is linked to pro-environmental behavior, potentially mediated by guilt.
Purpose of the Study:
- To empirically investigate the relationship between anthropomorphism of nature and support for restricting leisure air travel.
- To examine if environmental guilt mediates the effect of anthropomorphism on support for travel restrictions for both COVID-19 and climate change mitigation.
- To assess the efficacy of anthropomorphism in promoting pro-environmental behavior in the context of a global pandemic.
Main Methods:
- An online experimental study with 325 Australian residents.
- Manipulation of anthropomorphism of nature in the context of COVID-19 (AMP-19) using a news article.
- Measurement of environmental guilt and support for restricting leisure air travel for COVID-19 (LAT-19) and climate change (LAT-CC).
Main Results:
- Anthropomorphism of nature in the context of COVID-19 (AMP-19) significantly predicted environmental guilt.
- Environmental guilt, in turn, significantly predicted support for restricting leisure air travel for both COVID-19 (LAT-19) and climate change (LAT-CC).
- The indirect effect was stronger for climate change mitigation (f² = .45) compared to COVID-19 mitigation (f² = .26).
Conclusions:
- Anthropomorphism of nature, particularly when framed within the COVID-19 context, can enhance support for pro-environmental behaviors like restricting air travel.
- Environmental guilt serves as a key mediator in this relationship.
- Findings suggest that framing climate change mitigation through anthropomorphism could be a viable strategy to increase public acceptance of necessary environmental policies.
Keywords:
COVID-19air travelanthropomorphismclimate changeecological behaviorenvironmental guiltrestrictive measurestourismMore Related Videos
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