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  3. Psychological Interventions That Decrease Psychological Distance Or Challenge System Justification Increase Motivation To Exert Effort To Mitigate Climate Change.
  1. Home
  3. Psychological Interventions That Decrease Psychological Distance Or Challenge System Justification Increase Motivation To Exert Effort To Mitigate Climate Change.

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Psychological interventions that decrease psychological distance or challenge system justification increase

Jo Cutler1,2,3, Luis Sebastian Contreras-Huerta4,5,6,7,8, Boryana Todorova9

  • 1Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. J.L.Cutler@bham.ac.uk.

Communications Psychology
|November 5, 2025

View abstract on PubMed

Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Two psychological interventions effectively increased effortful pro-environmental actions by reducing psychological distance and framing climate action as patriotic. These findings are crucial for motivating climate-friendly behaviors globally.

Area of Science:

  • Psychological Science
  • Environmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • Climate change necessitates widespread pro-environmental actions, but human aversion to effort hinders engagement.
  • Identifying psychological interventions to increase willingness to exert effort for climate mitigation is critical.
  • Understanding individual differences in motivation and effort aversion is key to designing effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate psychological interventions that enhance motivation for effortful pro-environmental behaviors.
  • To quantify the impact of interventions on willingness to exert physical effort for climate protection.
  • To explore individual-level factors influencing motivation to benefit the climate.

Main Methods:

  • A large-scale study (N=3055) across six diverse countries using an effort-based decision-making task (Pro-Environmental Effort Task).
  • Participants experienced one of 11 interventions or a control condition before choosing to exert physical effort to reduce carbon emissions.
  • Computational modeling was used to quantify motivation for climate action versus a matched non-environmental cause.

    • Main Results:

    • Two interventions—reducing psychological distance and framing climate action as patriotic/preserving way of life—consistently increased effortful pro-environmental behaviors.
    • Motivation to benefit the climate correlated with belief in climate change and support for pro-environmental policies.
    • Trait apathy and effort aversion were associated with lower motivation for both climate and non-environmental causes.

    Conclusions:

    • Psychological interventions can effectively promote effortful climate action by altering perceptions and framing.
    • Reducing psychological distance and leveraging social identity (patriotism) are promising strategies for climate engagement.
    • Findings offer crucial insights for designing scalable interventions to encourage necessary pro-environmental behaviors.