Eco-anxiety in daily life: Relationships with well-being and pro-environmental behavior

• Published in: Current research in ecological and social psychology 2023, Vol.4, p.100110, Article 100110
• Main Authors: Lutz, Paul K., Zelenski, John M., Newman, David B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate change anxiety; Daily diary; Eco-anxiety; Happiness; Meaning in life; Pro-environmental behavior
• ISSN: 2666-6227; 2666-6227
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cresp.2023.100110

•Daily diary study on eco-anxiety, well-being, and pro-environmental behavior (PEB).•Average scores on eco-anxiety were significantly higher at the trait vs. daily level.•Trait eco-anxiety was associated with lower well-being and greater PEB.•Daily eco-anxiety predicted lower same-day well-being and greater same-day PEB.•Eco-anxiety on a given day predicted lower next day well-being. Prior research on eco-anxiety, or anxiety and worry about mounting environmental issues, has almost exclusively relied on cross-sectional trait reports. Consequently, little is known about how it is related to focal outcomes, such as well-being (e.g., happiness, meaning in life) and pro-environmental behavior, over time in daily life. To help address this issue, we conducted a preregistered daily diary study, wherein Canadian undergraduates (N = 132) provided trait reports and two weeks of daily reports (n = 1439) on eco-anxiety, positive and negative affect, meaning in life, and pro-environmental behavior. At the trait level, average scores on eco-anxiety were fairly low; yet, higher scores were associated with less positive affect and more negative affect and pro-environmental behavior. Average scores on eco-anxiety were even lower at the state level but nonetheless exhibited notable within-person variability. On days that people felt greater eco-anxiety, they also reported greater negative affect and pro-environmental behavior. Lagged analyses from one day to the next provided some evidence that eco-anxiety increases future negative affect. No significant relationships between eco-anxiety and meaning in life emerged at both levels of analysis. Together, these findings demonstrate that eco-anxiety can be productively conceived of—and studied as—both a trait and a state. [Display omitted]