Experimental Tests of an Affective Pathway to Pro-Environmental Intentions

Empirical evidence suggests that affective responses to climate change are predictive of pro-environmental attitudes, intentions, and behavior and may thus contribute to sustainability. However, that evidence is mostly correlational. We present experiments designed to test the mediational hypothesis that exposure to climate change information elicits negative affective responses, which in turn increase pro-environmental intentions. In Study series 1 (8 studies, total n = 819), we used a measurement-of-mediation design. We provided participants with information about the devastating effects of climate change or other non-threatening information. Neither providing that information nor the negative affective responses to that information were associated with participants’ subsequent pro-environmental intentions. In Study 2 (n = 135), we employed a manipulation-of-mediator design, which was a more stringent test of mediation. We asked people to either intensify or suppress their feelings while they were exposed to information about climate change or information unrelated to climate change. Deepening one’s feelings increased negative affect and reduced positive affect but did not significantly raise pro-environmental intentions. Together, these results suggest that climate change information reliably produces affective responses, but these do not translate into pro-environmental intentions in the short term.