Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses

Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses organizes and summarizes recent work in the field of psychology on the issue of climate change. The book covers topics ranging from how people perceive and respond to climate change, how people understand and communicate about the issue, how it impacts individuals and communities, particularly vulnerable communities, and how individuals and communities can best prepare for, and mitigate, negative climate change impacts. Further, it examines the role of emotion, messenger-audience fit, bi-directional communication, and issue relevance in shaping engagement and receptivity in the effectiveness of climate change communication efforts.

The book lays out the clear relevance of psychological phenomena to perceptions (e.g., risk perception, motivated cognition, denial), impacts (threats to mental health, social well-being, and sense of place), and behavior (mitigation and adaptation), thus striving to engage diverse stakeholders, both within, and between, nations, to develop and implement effective mitigation and adaptation policies on the urgent and very real issue of climate change.

Addresses psychological adaptation processes related to climate changeDraws upon identity threat, identity-based motivation, and belongingDiscusses the difference between acute climate change events and slowly-emerging changes on our mental healthExplores the effectiveness of climate change communication effortsExamines psychological stress and injury related to global climate changeConsiders how perceptions of climate change vary across nationsPresents a conceptual framework for classifying individual and household behaviorPromotes individual and community resilience

1. Introduction: Psychology and climate change

Part I: Perceptions and Communication 2. Perceptions of climate change 3. Climate change communication: Challenges, insights, and opportunities 4. Social construction of scientifically grounded climate change discussions 5. A diversity science approach to climate change

Part II: Responding to Climate Change 6. Understanding responses to climate change: Psychological barriers to mitigation and a new theory of behavioral choice 7. Contributions of psychology to limiting climate change: Opportunities through consumer behavior 8. Environmental protection through societal change: What psychology knows about collective climate action and what it needs to find out

Part III: Wellbeing and Resilience 9. Threats to mental health and wellbeing associated with climate change 10. Individual impacts and resilience 11. Psychological perspectives on community resilience and climate change: Insights, examples, and directions for future research