Does behaving green influence how we feel? pro-environmental behaviour and subjective well-being

The climate crisis is the most pressing crisis of our time, requiring urgent mitigation measures at all levels of society. Among those is the need to increase pro-environmental behaviours.

The current study examined the role of social-psychological characteristics on pro-environmental behaviour and subjective well-being, using a nationally representative sample.

Results indicated that environmental identity, climate change perceptions and direct experience of climate change were positively related to pro-environmental behaviours. More specifically, individuals with stronger environmental identity and heightened perceptions of climate change reported more frequent conservation behaviours (e.g., reducing heating, lighting, or energy use), greater engagement in sustainable transportation behaviours (e.g., carpooling, walking, or using public transportation), and higher likelihood of adopting food-related behaviours (e.g., reducing meat consumption and increasing vegetarian meals). Climate anxiety was positively related to all three pro-environmental categories of behaviours examined. Finally, engaging in these pro-environmental behaviours was related to higher levels of positive affect, negatively related to negative affect. Those relations were mediated by climate anxiety.

Overall, the findings offer insights into how to motivate climate action to mitigate the impacts of climate change.