Climate psychology is a field which aims to further our understanding of the psychological processes that occur in response to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

and its resultant effects. It also seeks to promote creative ways to engage with the public about climate change; contribute to change at the personal, community, cultural and political levels; support

activists Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

s and

policy makers Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an org ...

to bring about effective change; to nurture

psychological resilience Psychological resilience is the ability to cope mentally or emotionally with a crisis or to return to pre-crisis status quickly. The term was coined in the 1970s by a psychologist named Emmy E. Werner as she conducted a forty year long study o ...

to the destructive impacts of climate change happening now and in the future.

Definition

Climate psychology can refer to: *

Effects of climate change on mental health The effects of climate change on mental health and well-being can be rather negative, especially for vulnerable populations and those with pre-existing serious mental illness. There are three broad pathways by which these effects can take place: ...

Psychological impact of climate change The psychological impacts of climate change concerns effects that climate change can have on individuals' mental and emotional well-being. They may also relate to more generalised effects on groups and their behaviours, such as the urge to migrate ...

* Psychological aspects surrounding

climate inaction Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels bur ...

* Psychological aspects surrounding climate communication (see Climate communication#Applying findings from psychology) *

Psychology of climate change denial The psychology of climate change denial is the study of why people climate change denial, deny climate change, despite the scientific consensus on climate change. A study assessed public perception and action on climate change on grounds of beli ...

Academic discipline

Climate psychology is a trans-disciplinary approach to research and practice. It focuses on the society-wide reluctance to take appropriate action in relation to the escalating threat of climate change. It sees the problem as requiring a deeper approach, that examines our resistance to knowing and acting, rather than seeing it as an “ information deficit” to be treated by cognitive or behavioural approaches. It stresses the significance of human

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. ...

s, identities and cultural assumptions. Furthermore, it acknowledges the human subject as nested within their social and ecological context. In order to meet its aims and develop its approach, climate psychology draws on a broad range of perspectives, including:

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

, philosophy, world

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural ...

s, the

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at th ...

and

systems thinking Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts. It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective actio ...

. The core of the approach is based on various

psychotherapeutic Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...

traditions and psycho-social studies, allowing climate psychologists to understand the unconscious or unacknowledged emotions and processes influencing people’s thoughts, motivations and behaviours. This applies especially to these processes that manifest in the broader context of the wider society and culture. As of 2020, the discipline of climate psychology had grown to include many subfields. Climate psychologists are working with the United nations, with national and local governments, with corporations, NGOs and individuals.

Climate psychology in practice

In recent years, climate psychologists are facilitating support groups for activists, particularly those active in the support of pro-environmental behaviours across society. They are also developing initiatives such as co-operative inquiry, a method of doing research into psychological phenomena where the participants are fully involved and act as co-researchers, allowing for a broader range of richer, qualitative data. In August of 2022, scientists and their colleagues came together to protest rebellion outside of the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in London. During this time, as shown on the news, many climate scientists were having mental breakdowns and showing extreme signs of emotional turmoil and anguish. Climate psychologists over the years having watched not only scientists go through this environmental change, seeing how it has negatively impacted millions. They support groups through behavioral practices and studies to help obtain precise data and comprehension from person to person within these activist groups. A study in 2021 found that mental health issues related to climate change are recognized by Polish psychologists and psychotherapists.

Climate change and psychological defences

Non-avoidant coping has three predominant forms: active coping, which is direct action taken to deal with a stressful situation;

acceptance Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it. The concept is close in meaning to ...

, which is cognitive and emotional acknowledgement of stressful realities; and cognitive reinterpretation, which involves learning or positive reframing. A distinction can also be made between proactive and reactive coping. Proactive coping, also known as anticipatory adaptation or psychological preparedness, is made in anticipation of an event. On the other hand, reactive coping is made during or after the event. Climate psychologists consider how coping responses can be

adaptive Adaptation, in biology, is the process or trait by which organisms or population better match their environment Adaptation may also refer to: Arts * Adaptation (arts), a transfer of a work of art from one medium to another ** Film adaptation, ...

maladaptive In evolution, a maladaptation () is a trait that is (or has become) more harmful than helpful, in contrast with an adaptation, which is more helpful than harmful. All organisms, from bacteria to humans, display maladaptive and adaptive traits. ...

, not just personally but also for the wider environment and ecology. More precisely, do the responses promote positive psychological adjustment and stimulate appropriate and proportional pro-environmental action, or do they serve to justify the individual in their inaction and allow them to refrain from the necessary, radical changes?Andrews & Hoggett (2019) Facing up to ecological crisis: A psychosocial perspective form climate psychology. In Foster, J. (ed.) ''Facing Up To Climate Reality: Honesty, Disaster & Hope.'' London: Green House Publishing.

Psycho-social approaches

A psycho-social approach to Climate psychology examines the interplay between internal, psychological factors and external, socio-cultural factors- such as values, beliefs and norms- in people’s responses to climate change. Furthermore, it offers a distinctive

qualitative Qualitative descriptions or distinctions are based on some quality or characteristic rather than on some quantity or measured value. Qualitative may also refer to: *Qualitative property, a property that can be observed but not measured numericall ...

methodology for understanding the lived experience of research subjects, which has been adopted by researchers seeking to investigate how climate change and environmental destruction is experienced by different groups across society.Lertzman, R. (2015). Environmental melancholia: Psychoanalytic dimensions of engagement. Routledge. In this case, ‘lived experience’ refers to the feelings, thoughts and imaginations and the meaning frames which both affect and are effected by those experiences. Coping responses to impending climate destabilisation are psycho-social phenomena, culturally sanctioned and maintained by social norms and structures, not simply isolated psychological processes.Norgaard, K. M. (2011). Living in denial: Climate change, emotions, and everyday life. mit Press. For example, modern mass consumerism is dictated by the needs of a globalised, deregulated

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

, yet it is one of the driving forces of climate change. It has been suggested that this “culture of un-care” performs an ideological function, insulating consumers from experiencing too much anxiety and moral disquiet. Cultural mechanisms also support ways of down-regulating the powerful feelings that would otherwise be elicited by the awareness of potential threats. These include strong, embedded cultural assumptions such as

entitlement An entitlement is a provision made in accordance with a legal framework of a society. Typically, entitlements are based on concepts of principle ("rights") which are themselves based in concepts of social equality or enfranchisement. In psycholo ...

exceptionalism Exceptionalism is the perception or belief that a species, country, society, institution, movement, individual, or time period is " exceptional" (i.e., unusual or extraordinary). The term carries the implication, whether or not specified, that the ...

and faith in progress. Entitlement is the belief that certain groups or species deserve more than others and is embedded in the unequal relations governing developed and developing human societies. Exceptionalism is the idea that one’s species, nation, ethnic group or individual self is special and therefore absolved from the rules that apply to others, giving licence to breach natural limits of resource consumption. Faith in progress, a key element of post-industrial ideology, results in a conviction that science and technology can solve every problem, therefore encouraging wishful thinking and false optimism.

History

The origins of climate psychology can be traced back to the work of psychoanalyst

Harold Searles Harold Frederic Searles (September 1, 1918 – November 18, 2015) was one of the pioneers of psychiatric medicine specializing in psychoanalytic treatments of schizophrenia. Searles had the reputation of being a therapeutic virtuoso with difficul ...

and his work on the unconscious factors that influence the estrangement of people from the rest of nature. It has also been strongly influenced by the field of

Ecopsychology Ecopsychology is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinarity field that focuses on the synthesis of ecology and psychology and the promotion of sustainability. It is distinguished from conventional psychology as it focuses on studying the emotio ...

and its emphasis on the relationships of people with the natural world.Roszak, T., Gomes, M. E., & Kanner, A. D. (Eds.). (1995). ''Ecopsychology: Restoring the earth, healing the mind.'' Sierra Club Books. Due to the increase in society-wide acceptance of the dangers of climate change, there has been greater interest in understanding the psychological processes underlying the resistance to taking appropriate action, and in particular, the phenomenon of

climate change denial Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is Denial (Freud), denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is Attribution of recent climate change, caused by hum ...

. More recently, a literature base by climate psychologists has started to focus on the powerful emotions associated with climate change and planetary-wide

biodiversity loss Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

References

External links

Climate Psychology Alliance

Psychologists for a Safe Climate

Climate & Mind
{{Climate change Environmental psychology Climate change and society Climate Climate change