Exploring the Impact of Actionable Guidance & Feedback on Pro-Environmental Behaviors, Climate Anxiety, and Environmental Efficacy

Abstract

Evidence indicates that the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and pollution are tipping our global climate toward changes that jeopardize the stability of our environments and are likely to impact the overall suitability of our planet for habitation by humans and many other living organisms. As the global climate situation becomes more pronounced and increasingly signals itself as a threat to human wellbeing, a new mental health concern has also begun to delineate itself, that of climate anxiety, which is being felt by individuals across the globe, from mood and decreased levels of functioning, to more severe manifestations like substance abuse, depression, and insomnia. The goal of this work is to review and expand on the concepts of climate anxiety, as well as environmental efficacy, and explore their relationship with proenvironmental behaviors with considerations for the potential moderating effects that actionable guidance and measurable feedback may have on the adoption and outcomes of those behaviors.