IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i10p4373-d1653904.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Rise of Eco/Green Psychology Concepts in Understanding Sustainable Action

Author

Listed:
  • John Pearce

    (School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia)

  • Gianna Moscardo

    (College of Business, Law and Governance, James Cook University, Cairns 4879, Australia)

Abstract

Psychology is a core discipline in understanding why and how individuals choose to engage in sustainable action. This paper uses social representations theory to explore the rising use of eco/green prefixes for psychology concepts through a critical analysis of the concept of eco/green fatigue. It argues that this term, which originated in the world of popular online news media, has typically been treated in academic psychology discussions using existing psychology concepts in the same way as eco-anxiety and eco-grief, which hides important features of the phenomenon that need to be better understood. The paper presents an analysis of eco-fatigue based on a critical review of the existing psychology literature, qualitative online archival analyses, and an exploratory quantitative survey study. The survey study was conducted with a sample of 182 students and non-students and analysed using principal components and cluster analysis. The paper provides evidence that simply adding an eco/green prefix to an existing psychology concept without a systematic empirical investigation into the phenomenon can result in overly simplistic conceptual frameworks that do not lead to sound practical conclusions. A preliminary empirical examination of the social representation of eco-fatigue in the public arena suggested that inappropriate sustainability messaging and bad business behaviour may be more of a barrier to sustainability action than the beliefs or attitudes held by individuals.

Suggested Citation

  • John Pearce & Gianna Moscardo, 2025. "Exploring the Rise of Eco/Green Psychology Concepts in Understanding Sustainable Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-24, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4373-:d:1653904
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4373/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4373/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Niklas Gericke & Jelle Boeve‐de Pauw & Teresa Berglund & Daniel Olsson, 2019. "The Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire: The theoretical development and empirical validation of an evaluation instrument for stakeholders working with sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 35-49, January.
    3. Nègre, Julien & Delhomme, Patricia, 2017. "Drivers’ self-perceptions about being an eco-driver according to their concern for the environment, beliefs on eco-driving, and driving behavior," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 95-105.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Ahmed Eid & May Salah & Mahmoud Barakat & Matevz Obrecht, 2022. "Airport Sustainability Awareness: A Theoretical Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    2. Qi, Ruijuan & Khan, Ali Junaid & Basheer, Muhammad Farhan & Ul Hameed, Waseem & Chaudhry, Iffat Sabir, 2023. "Handling the mishandling: Resolving the resource curse through effective utilization of available natural resources and claiming sustainable development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    3. Pan, Wei & Xue, Yu & He, Hong-Di & Lu, Wei-Zhen, 2018. "Impacts of traffic congestion on fuel rate, dissipation and particle emission in a single lane based on Nasch Model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 503(C), pages 154-162.
    4. Ana-Inés Renta-Davids & Marta Camarero-Figuerola & Juana-María Tierno-García, 2020. "Assessment of the Quality Education Awareness Competence of Pre-Service Educators Using Vignettes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Qiudi Zhao & Xianwei Liu & Yonghong Ma & Xiaoqi Zheng & Miaomiao Yu & Dongjiao Wu, 2020. "Application of the Modified College Impact Model to Understand Chinese Engineering Undergraduates’ Sustainability Consciousness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-22, March.
    6. Chinaza Uleanya, 2024. "Sustainability consciousness in primary schools: roles of leaders in the post/digital era," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 21783-21796, August.
    7. Carmella Granato & Marco Campera & Matthew Bulbert, 2025. "Active Learning Affects Children’s Intention to Act and Awareness of the Importance of Nature and Understanding Environmental Change," World, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Marta Romero Ariza & Jelle Boeve-de Pauw & Daniel Olsson & Peter Van Petegem & Gema Parra & Niklas Gericke, 2021. "Promoting Environmental Citizenship in Education: The Potential of the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire to Measure Impact of Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.
    9. Rasa Grigoliene & Deimena Kiyak & Virgilijus Olsauskas & Inga Juknyte-Petreikiene, 2025. "Public Governance of Sustainable Development Implementation: A Case Study of Coastal Municipalities in Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-26, September.
    10. Teresa Berglund & Niklas Gericke & Jelle Boeve-de Pauw & Daniel Olsson & Tzu-Chau Chang, 2020. "A cross-cultural comparative study of sustainability consciousness between students in Taiwan and Sweden," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6287-6313, October.
    11. Silvia Bacci & Bruno Bertaccini & Ester Macrì & Anna Pettini, 2024. "Measuring sustainability consciousness in Italy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 4751-4778, October.
    12. Aslı Koçulu, 2025. "Promoting Sustainable Life Through Global Citizenship-Oriented Educational Approaches: Comparison of Learn–Think–Act Approach-Based and Lecture-Based SDG Instructions on the Development of Students’ S," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-25, October.
    13. Ilia Gugenishvili & Annika Laine‐Kronberg, 2025. "The Influence of Prior Knowledge and Perceived Impact on the Connection Between Attitudes and Sustainable Behavior," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 4099-4111, June.
    14. Yoo‐Kyoung Seock & Jeongah Shin & Yein Yoon, 2024. "Embracing environmental sustainability consciousness as a catalyst for slow fashion adoption," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 4071-4081, August.
    15. Sara Righi & Elisa Bergami & Roberto Simonini & Daniela Prevedelli, 2024. "Level of Awareness and Attitudes towards Plastic Contamination by Students of an Italian University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-15, May.
    16. Yuli Sartono & Endang Siti Astuti & Wilopo Wilopo & Teuku Noerman, 2024. "Enhancing Sustainability in Solution Projects through Social CRM: An Expansion of the Self-Efficacy Value Adoption Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-21, September.
    17. Luzia Arantes & Bruno Barbosa Sousa, 2025. "The Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire: Validation Among Portuguese Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-22, January.
    18. José María Marcos-Merino & Isaac Corbacho-Cuello & Míriam Hernández-Barco, 2020. "Analysis of Sustainability Knowingness, Attitudes and Behavior of a Spanish Pre-Service Primary Teachers Sample," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-22, September.
    19. Manchanda, Parul & Arora, Nupur & Nazir, Owais & Islam, Jamid Ul, 2023. "Cultivating sustainability consciousness through mindfulness: An application of theory of mindful-consumption," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    20. Marialuisa Menegatto & Gloria Freschi & Margherita Bulfon & Adriano Zamperini, 2024. "Collectively Remembering Environmental Disasters: The Vaia Storm as a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-17, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4373-:d:1653904. 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.