IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i17p9358-d629153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Media Exposure to Climate Change, Anxiety, and Efficacy Beliefs in a Sample of Italian University Students

Author

Listed:
  • Daniela Acquadro Maran

    (Department of Psychology, Università di Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124 Torino, Italy)

  • Tatiana Begotti

    (Department of Psychology, Università di Torino, Via Verdi 10, 10124 Torino, Italy)

Abstract

The climate crisis poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of individuals. For many, climate change knowledge is derived from indirect exposure to information transmitted through the media. Such content can elicit a variety of emotional responses, including anger, sadness, despair, fear, and guilt. Worry and anxiety are especially common responses, usually referred to as “climate anxiety”. The main objectives of this study were to analyze how exposure to climate change through the media relates to climate anxiety and individual and collective self-efficacy, and to evaluate the relationship between climate anxiety and efficacy beliefs. A total of 312 Italian university students (aged 18–26 years) participated in the research by filling out an anonymous questionnaire. Participants reported being exposed several times per week to information about climate change, especially from social media, newspapers, and television programs. Moreover, the results showed that the attention paid to information about climate change was not only positively related to climate anxiety, but also to individual and collective self-efficacy. Most notably, participants’ efficacy beliefs were found to be positively related to climate anxiety. This somewhat controversial finding stresses that, in the context of pro-environmental behavior changes, a moderate level of anxiety could engender feelings of virtue, encouraging people to rethink actions with negative ecological impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniela Acquadro Maran & Tatiana Begotti, 2021. "Media Exposure to Climate Change, Anxiety, and Efficacy Beliefs in a Sample of Italian University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:17:p:9358-:d:629153
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/17/9358/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/17/9358/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Brulle & Jason Carmichael & J. Jenkins, 2012. "Shifting public opinion on climate change: an empirical assessment of factors influencing concern over climate change in the U.S., 2002–2010," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 169-188, September.
    2. Gintare Stankuniene & Dalia Streimikiene & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos, 2020. "Systematic Literature Review on Behavioral Barriers of Climate Change Mitigation in Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Jennifer R. Marlon & Sander van der Linden & Peter D. Howe & Anthony Leiserowitz & S. H. Lucia Woo & Kenneth Broad, 2019. "Detecting local environmental change: the role of experience in shaping risk judgments about global warming," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(7), pages 936-950, July.
    4. Helen Berry & Kathryn Bowen & Tord Kjellstrom, 2010. "Climate change and mental health: a causal pathways framework," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(2), pages 123-132, April.
    5. Henry H. Willis & Michael L. DeKay, 2007. "The Roles of Group Membership, Beliefs, and Norms in Ecological Risk Perception," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 1365-1380, October.
    6. Saffron O’Neill & Hywel T. P. Williams & Tim Kurz & Bouke Wiersma & Maxwell Boykoff, 2015. "Dominant frames in legacy and social media coverage of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 380-385, April.
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/61ih2qtadc8g1894enmudd2f09 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Terre A. Satterfield & C. K. Mertz & Paul Slovic, 2004. "Discrimination, Vulnerability, and Justice in the Face of Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 115-129, February.
    9. Ashlee Cunsolo & Neville R. Ellis, 2018. "Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(4), pages 275-281, April.
    10. Rachel A. Howell & Stuart Capstick & Lorraine Whitmarsh, 2016. "Impacts of adaptation and responsibility framings on attitudes towards climate change mitigation," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 445-461, June.
    11. Paul M. Kellstedt & Sammy Zahran & Arnold Vedlitz, 2008. "Personal Efficacy, the Information Environment, and Attitudes Toward Global Warming and Climate Change in the United States," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 113-126, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shiri Shinan-Altman & Yaira Hamama-Raz, 2023. "The Association between Climate Change Exposure and Climate Change Worry among Israeli Adults: The Interplay of Risk Appraisal, Collective Efficacy, Age, and Gender," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Martin, Gina & Cosma, Alina & Roswell, Tasha & Anderson, Martin & Treble, Matthew & Leslie, Kathleen & Card, Kiffer G. & Closson, Kalysha & Kennedy, Angel & Gislason, Maya, 2023. "Measuring negative emotional responses to climate change among young people in survey research: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    3. Catriona Soutar & Anne P. F. Wand, 2022. "Understanding the Spectrum of Anxiety Responses to Climate Change: A Systematic Review of the Qualitative Literature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-23, January.
    4. Matteo Innocenti & Gabriele Santarelli & Gaia Surya Lombardi & Lorenzo Ciabini & Doris Zjalic & Mattia Di Russo & Chiara Cadeddu, 2023. "How Can Climate Change Anxiety Induce Both Pro-Environmental Behaviours and Eco-Paralysis? The Mediating Role of General Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-10, February.
    5. Susan D. Clayton & Panu Pihkala & Britt Wray & Elizabeth Marks, 2023. "Psychological and Emotional Responses to Climate Change among Young People Worldwide: Differences Associated with Gender, Age, and Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, February.
    6. Daniela Acquadro Maran & Matti Ullah Butt & Tatiana Begotti, 2023. "Pro-Environment Behaviors, Efficacy Beliefs, Perceived Individual and Social Norms: A Questionnaire Survey in a Sample of Young Adults From Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    7. Marja Leonhardt & Marie Dahlen Granrud & Tore Bonsaksen & Lars Lien, 2022. "Associations between Mental Health, Lifestyle Factors and Worries about Climate Change in Norwegian Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, October.
    8. Manuela Repetto & Alessandra Bianco Prevot & Adelina Brizio & Arianna Boldi & Melania Talarico & Silvia Stanchi & Davide Palma & Daniela Acquadro Maran, 2024. "Digital Escape Rooms: A Resource for Environmental Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-12, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Isobel Sharpe & Colleen M. Davison, 2022. "A Scoping Review of Climate Change, Climate-Related Disasters, and Mental Disorders among Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Esther Cuadrado & Luis Macias-Zambrano & Isabel Guzman & Antonio J. Carpio & Carmen Tabernero, 2023. "The role of implicit theories about climate change malleability in the prediction of pro-environmental behavioral intentions," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 11241-11261, October.
    3. Sonya Gurwitt & Kari Malkki & Mili Mitra, 2017. "Global issue, developed country bias: the Paris climate conference as covered by daily print news organizations in 13 nations," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 281-296, August.
    4. Naseem Dillman-Hasso, 2021. "The nature buffer: the missing link in climate change and mental health research," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 11(4), pages 696-701, December.
    5. Jing Shi & Vivianne H. M. Visschers & Michael Siegrist, 2015. "Public Perception of Climate Change: The Importance of Knowledge and Cultural Worldviews," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(12), pages 2183-2201, December.
    6. Zachary A. Wendling & Shahzeen Z. Attari & Sanya R. Carley & Rachel M. Krause & David C. Warren & John A. Rupp & John D. Graham, 2013. "On the Importance of Strengthening Moderate Beliefs in Climate Science to Foster Support for Immediate Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(12), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Gemma Hayward & Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, 2021. "‘Seeing with Empty Eyes’: a systems approach to understand climate change and mental health in Bangladesh," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-30, March.
    8. Rory G. J. Fitzpatrick & Douglas J. Parker & John H. Marsham & David P. Rowell & Lawrence S. Jackson & Declan Finney & Chetan Deva & Simon Tucker & Rachael Stratton, 2020. "How a typical West African day in the future-climate compares with current-climate conditions in a convection-permitting and parameterised convection climate model," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 267-296, November.
    9. Kosanic, Aleksandra & Petzold, Jan, 2020. "A systematic review of cultural ecosystem services and human wellbeing," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    10. Stephanie Shepard & Hilary Boudet & Chad M. Zanocco & Lori A. Cramer & Bryan Tilt, 2018. "Community climate change beliefs, awareness, and actions in the wake of the September 2013 flooding in Boulder County, Colorado," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(3), pages 312-325, September.
    11. Emőke Kiss & Dániel Balla & András Donát Kovács, 2022. "Characteristics of Climate Concern—Attitudes and Personal Actions—A Case Study of Hungarian Settlements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, April.
    12. Hannah Comtesse & Verena Ertl & Sophie M. C. Hengst & Rita Rosner & Geert E. Smid, 2021. "Ecological Grief as a Response to Environmental Change: A Mental Health Risk or Functional Response?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-10, January.
    13. Middleton, Jacqueline & Cunsolo, Ashlee & Jones-Bitton, Andria & Shiwak, Inez & Wood, Michele & Pollock, Nathaniel & Flowers, Charlie & Harper, Sherilee L., 2020. "“We're people of the snow:” Weather, climate change, and Inuit mental wellness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    14. Csilla Ágoston & Benedek Csaba & Bence Nagy & Zoltán Kőváry & Andrea Dúll & József Rácz & Zsolt Demetrovics, 2022. "Identifying Types of Eco-Anxiety, Eco-Guilt, Eco-Grief, and Eco-Coping in a Climate-Sensitive Population: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-17, February.
    15. Andrei Kirilenko & Svetlana Stepchenkova, 2012. "Climate change discourse in mass media: application of computer-assisted content analysis," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 2(2), pages 178-191, June.
    16. Catriona Soutar & Anne P. F. Wand, 2022. "Understanding the Spectrum of Anxiety Responses to Climate Change: A Systematic Review of the Qualitative Literature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-23, January.
    17. Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson & Anna Hoad & Mei L. Trueba, 2024. "‘My appetite and mind would go’: Inuit perceptions of (im)mobility and wellbeing loss under climate change across Inuit Nunangat in the Canadian Arctic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    18. Veysel Yilmaz & Yasemin Can, 2020. "Impact of knowledge, concern and awareness about global warming and global climatic change on environmental behavior," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6245-6260, October.
    19. Joseph P. Reser & Graham L. Bradley, 2020. "The nature, significance, and influence of perceived personal experience of climate change," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(5), September.
    20. Gupta, Kuhika & Nowlin, Matthew C. & Ripberger, Joseph T. & Jenkins-Smith, Hank C. & Silva, Carol L., 2019. "Tracking the nuclear ‘mood’ in the United States: Introducing a long term measure of public opinion about nuclear energy using aggregate survey data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:17:p:9358-:d:629153. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.