Decoding the Public's Real-Time Emotional and Cognitive Responses to the Changing Climate on Social Media:...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Psychology
• Climate Change Adaptation
• Public Health

Background:

• Climate change significantly threatens global mental health.
• Research often overlooks long-term, nonclinical mental well-being impacts.
• Mechanisms linking climate events to real-time emotions and actions need exploration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between climate change and emotional well-being.
• To explore mediating mechanisms including cognitive and social factors.
• To integrate social media, meteorological, and vulnerability data.

Main Methods:

• Utilized psycholinguistic analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM).
• Examined mediation through social affiliations, thinking styles, and somatosensory experiences.
• Assessed moderation by regional vulnerability and seasonal changes.

Main Results:

• Extreme hot days correlated with decreased emotional well-being (total effect=-0.712).
• Mediation confirmed via social affiliations, analytical-intuitive thinking, and somatosensory experiences.
• Temperature-well-being link moderated by season and population density; extreme heat reduced pro-environmental tendencies.

Conclusions:

• Interventions should focus on enhancing mental well-being and cognitive coping strategies.
• Cognitive responses are key to building emotional resilience to climate change.
• This approach can promote pro-environmental behaviors through positive feedback cycles.