Affective Reactions Research Articles

Psycho-physiological foundations of human physical activity behavior and motivation: Theories, systems, mechanisms, evolution, and genetics.

Physical activity is a meaningful part of life, which starts before birth and lasts until death. There are many health benefits to be derived from physical activity, hence, regular engagement is recommended on a weekly basis. However, these recommendations are often not met. This raises the question: when and why are people motivated to be physically active? Attempts to explain the motivation for physical activity (or lack thereof) have been the research interest for many years and disciplines. In this review, we provide evidence suggesting that physical activity behavior and the psycho-physiological foundations thereof Physical activity is a meaningful part of life, which starts before birth and lasts until death. There are many health benefits to be derived from physical activity, hence, regular engagement is recommended on a weekly basis. However, these recommendations are often not met. This raises the question: when and why are people motivated to be physically active? Attempts to explain the motivation for physical activity (or lack thereof) have been the research interest for many years and disciplines. In this review, we provide evidence suggesting that physical activity behavior and the psycho-physiological foundations thereof are influenced by evolution, genetics, life stage, and the environment. The psycho-physiological foundations in turn comprise motivational and volitional factors as described in traditional psychological theories, psychological states and traits such as affective and stress reactions, as well as physiological states and systems (e.g. anatomical development and neural networks and transmitters). Importantly, physical activity elicits differential physiological responses and subjective experiences, which may impact future physical activity behavior and motivation. In summary, the interplay of psycho-physiological mechanisms and the importance of examining the ultimate mechanism for physical activity behavior are emphasized. The synthesis of knowledge provided in this review provides impetus for theory development and can facilitate the promotion of physically active lifestyles.

How aware are people of their current affect? A physiology-based investigation of affective awareness.

The assumption that people differ in affective awareness (i.e., the extent to which a person's subjective affective experience matches their affective bodily state) is central to emotional competence. To test this assumption empirically, we used a physiology-based approach to investigate individual differences in affective awareness. Participants (N = 255) viewed 76 pictures with affective content and rated their experienced affect. Facial muscle activity during picture presentation was assessed via electromyography (EMG) as a direct physiological measure of affective reactions. We used a multilevel model to quantify affective awareness as the strength of the intraindividual relationship between a person's EMG reactions and affect ratings. This relationship was positive on average and differed significantly between participants. These individual differences in affective awareness were reliable and stable over time. Affective awareness was higher for women than for men and went along with generally strong affective EMG reactivity and better socioemotional abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Cultural uncertainty avoidance predicts consumers' affective reactions to chemicals.

Chemicals in general often evoke negative emotions (e.g., worry or fear) in consumers. This can cause consumers to avoid beneficial products and may even lead to suboptimal public policy decisions. It is, therefore, important to better understand how affective reactions to chemicals in general (ARC) form in order to be able to counteract these undesirable effects. The present research contributes to the literature on ARC by studying between-country differences in ARC. While ARC were negative in all countries in our dataset, there were practically relevant between-country differences in how negative they were. We predicted and found that consumers in higher uncertainty avoidance (UA) societies reported more negative ARC than their counterparts in lower UA societies. This effect was due to the rule orientation component rather than the anxiety component of UA. Importantly, while we found evidence for several alternative explanations for between-country variation in ARC (i.e., differences in affluence, individualism, prevalence of chemicals, and trust in consumer protection), the UA effect remained statistically significant when we controlled for other country characteristics. The present research contributes to a better understanding of how contextual factors on the society level influence consumers' ARC and in doing so advances our understanding of ARC. It also has implications for practitioners who wish to educate consumers on the risks and benefits of chemicals.

Spatial Distribution Dynamics of Sensory Disturbances in the Treatment of Obesity-Related Meralgia Paresthetica Using Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation.

Background: To date, there have been no studies on the dynamics of areas of pain, paraesthesia and hypoesthesia after the use of various transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in the treatment of meralgia paresthetica. Methods: In this pilot study, we observed 68 patients with obesity-related bilateral meralgia paresthetica. Pain syndrome, paraesthesia symptoms, and hypoesthesia were evaluated using 10-point scores. In addition, pain drawing (PD) was used to determine the area of the spatial distribution of pain syndrome and paraesthesia symptoms, and body drawing was used to determine the area of hypoesthesia. Sham TENS was performed in the control group, and effective TENS was performed in the treatment group. The treatment group consisted of two subgroups. One subgroup underwent HF-LA TENS, and the second subgroup underwent LF-HA TENS. Results: Despite the greatest analgesic effect observed from HF-LA TENS, which was assessed using scoring methods, during and after treatment, the reduction in the area of pain and paraesthesia symptoms and the area of hypoesthesia was moderate, short-term, and reversible. In contrast, LF-HA TENS had a pronounced analgesic and sustained anti-paraesthesia effect, manifested by a noticeable decrease in pain and paraesthesia symptoms area in PD, gradually increasing during the first 2 months of follow-up and accompanied by an irreversible prolonged decrease in the area of hypoesthesia. Conclusion: The areas of paraesthesia and hypoesthesia correlate with affective reactions to long-term chronic pain, which noticeably regress under the influence of LF-HA TENS compared to HF-LA TENS.

How does habit strength affect reactions to warning labels? evidence from Chinese consumers' choices of carbonated beverages.

Effectively regulating the excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been an important task for public health authorities around the world. The rapid increase in SSB consumption in China necessitates robust regulations. This study employed a choice experiment to simulate the market scenario in which a text warning label was presented on SSBs. We draw a sample of 1200 participants from five major cities across China to analyze the warning label's effectiveness in reducing urban consumers' purchases of SSBs, with a particular emphasis on how an individual's habit strength affects their reaction to the warning label. Our analysis unveiled varying levels of habit strength among respondents: 35.33% showed weak habits, 56.25% displayed moderate habits, and 8.42% demonstrated strong habits. The random parameters logit model results showed a significant overall decrease in SSB purchases when a warning label was present, indicated by a significant negative coefficient associated with the label. However, when examining the impact of warning labels across different habit strengths, a significant effect was observed only in the moderate habit group. Furthermore, within this group, the warning label was more effective for those with correct health knowledge and who were not overweight or obese.

Examining Negativity Biases in Facial Emotion Reactions in Young Persons First Presenting with Borderline Personality Disorder

Introduction: Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are thought to experience specific biosocial vulnerabilities that give rise to a maladaptive negativity bias in the perception and expression of emotions. However, while this negative bias has been identified in adults with full threshold BPD or high BPD features, it is unclear whether it is evident earlier in the course of the disorder – that being, young persons with first-presentation BPD meeting three or more BPD features, as defined by early intervention models. Methods: The current study compared patterns of facial responding in individuals aged 15–25 years first presenting to a specialist outpatient service with three or more BPD features (n = 32) to age-matched healthy controls (n = 46). Facial electromyography was used to assess muscle activity associated with positive (zygomaticus major) and negative (corrugator supercilii) expression while participants viewed happy, angry, and neutral facial expressions. Results: The data revealed that negative facial emotional reactivity for the BPD group did not significantly differ from the control group. However, the results for positive emotional reactivity were more nuanced, indicating that while there was not an overall between-group difference, there might be an effect of time suggestive of a slower positive emotional reaction to happy faces by the BPD group. Conclusions: These data provide initial evidence that negatively biased emotional expression, when responding with negative facial expressions to neutral, happy, or angry faces, is not evident in young persons first presenting to a specialist outpatient service for treatment of BPD. However, a bias may be demonstrated by what appears to be a slower positive affective response to happy faces. The implications of these findings are discussed, particularly in relation to factors associated with chronicity of illness that might potentially contribute to the development of a more pronounced negativity bias later in the course of the illness. We encourage further examination of negativity biases in the developmental sequelae of BPD via longitudinal design or cross-sectional designs that include BPD participants across the course of illness, as well as further research to explore the possibility that positive affective reactions in this group might not be grossly blunted but rather delayed.

The Receipt of Venting at Work: A Multi‐Study Investigation of Affective and Behavioral Reactions for Venting Recipients

ABSTRACTAs a form of social communication at work, venting—expressing negative feelings about a person or event to others—is fairly ubiquitous. Yet little is known about how those who are the recipients of venting react affectively and behaviorally to this experience at work. To advance our understanding of venting receipt in the workplace, we integrate the archaic view of vicarious emotions into research related to venting at work to develop theory regarding how receiving venting is likely to evoke feelings of personal distress and empathy as employees react to and process this social information. In turn, we theorize that while personal distress leads to venting enactment, empathy leads to helping that can promote more positive social relations, highlighting the double‐edged nature of this phenomenon. Finally, beyond clarifying the theoretical ways that venting recipients react, we also consider how the broader social context—namely, coworker similarity—has the potential to shape these reactions. Across two within‐person field studies, both of which utilize a newly developed measure of venting receipt at work, and a supplemental recall experiment, our research highlights why and when venting at work can have divergent effects on venting recipients.

Communicating Probabilities of Cervical Cancer Screening Results with Icon Arrays or Tree Diagrams: A Longitudinal Experiment

ABSTRACT Simple graphical displays such as icon arrays and tree diagrams have been proposed for communicating health risks and supporting informed decisions. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) uses tree diagrams to communicate the chances of different cervical cancer screening results, but their effectiveness has not been compared to icon arrays. We conducted a well-powered longitudinal experiment involving 3,100 UK women eligible for cervical screening (25–64 years) to examine the effectiveness of icon arrays to communicate possible cervical screening results, relative to the UK NHS’s tree diagram and to a numerical-only format. We also examined whether the presence (vs. absence) of explanatory text referring to different types of results (i.e. distinguishing between HPV positive results with vs. without abnormal cervical cells) moderated effects of presentation format. Presentation format did not affect verbatim or gist knowledge of probabilities at initial assessment (i.e. immediately after participants viewed the displays), but icon arrays were associated with better gist knowledge of absolute magnitudes than tree diagrams and numerical-only formats at 1-month follow-up. Participants exposed to icon arrays also perceived lower likelihood of adverse screening results and reported stronger screening intentions at initial assessment. For displays without explanatory text, icon arrays were also associated with more positive user evaluations and less negative affective reactions than tree diagrams at initial assessment. Overall, our findings suggest that icon arrays support enduring knowledge of approximate magnitudes of probabilities and are better suited than tree diagrams for communicating possible screening results.

Implicit affective responses to suicide-related stimuli: Differences as a function of suicide attempt history and concurrent substance use.

Individuals who are depressed, have suicide attempts, and a substance use disorder (SUD) may have different patterns of suicidal thoughts and behaviors and respond differently to cues associated with suicide and death. Implicit affective reactions to visual cues suggestive of suicide and death (as well as to pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral cues), were compared among three groups of hospitalized adults: (a) depressed patients without the histories of suicidal behavior (depression only), (b) depressed patients with suicide attempts, but no current substance abuse disorder (SA), and (c) depressed patients with both suicide attempts and substance use disorder (SA + SUD). The SA group demonstrated higher positive evaluations of visual cues associated with suicide and death when compared to the SA + SUD group. The SA + SUD group demonstrated the lowest positive evaluation of suicide-related stimuli as well as less positive evaluation of visual cues of generally unpleasant stimuli. Differences observed between SA and SA + SUD participants underscore differences in responses to cues related to suicide, which may reflect differences in mechanisms of risk.

Matching vs. Mismatching Signals of External Human-Machine Interface and Vehicle Kinematics: An Examination of Pedestrian Crossing Behavior and Trust, Safety, and Affective Ratings in Interactions with Differently Sized Automated Vehicles

Highly automated vehicles (HAVs) will soon be introduced into mixed urban traffic. Pedestrians might have an idea of HAVs. Nevertheless, they probably have never interacted with them before. Moreover, pedestrians will not be able to communicate with HAVs like they are used to with manual vehicles. External human–machine interfaces (eHMIs) are possible design solutions for HAVs to ensure safe interaction with other road users. Light-based eHMIs positively affected pedestrians’ trust ratings, perceived safety, and willingness to cross. However, previous studies often neglected the effect of vehicle size, although larger-sized HAVs could be potentially perceived as the more significant threat. Additionally, the relationship between vehicle kinematics and eHMIs for differently sized HAVs remains an underexplored research topic. This study investigated the effects of vehicle size (small vs. large), eHMI state (dynamic eHMI vs. static eHMI vs. no eHMI), and vehicle kinematics (yielding vs. non-yielding) on pedestrian crossing behavior and their subjective assessment. In virtual reality, we created a shared space traffic scenario, in which the eHMI and vehicle kinematics matched or did not match. For yielding conditions, the results showed that participants felt more aroused with larger HAVs than with smaller HAVs. Moreover, pedestrians initiated their crossing significantly earlier when both vehicle sizes had a dynamic eHMI compared to a static eHMI vs. no eHMI. Additionally, pedestrians evaluated a dynamic eHMI with higher trust ratings, higher perceived safety, and more positive affective reactions. The results manifested that the use of dynamic eHMIs can effectively enhance pedestrian-vehicle communication with a large and a small HAV. For non-matching conditions, the participants tended to rely on the vehicle kinematics for both vehicle sizes. Overall, the study highlighted the potential of eHMIs for pedestrian interactions with HAVs of varying sizes when they are well-coordinated with the vehicle kinematics, aiming to enhance safety and efficiency in mixed-traffic environments.

The effects of ostracism on preschoolers’ over-imitation behaviors

Over-imitation represents an early developing behavior implicated in the emergence of learning, affective, and social competences. Adult over-imitation is heavily affected by contextual variables such as social ostracism, the experience of being ignored by others in a social context, an experience that threatens several psychological needs, inducing the urge to reaffiliate with a social group to restore the original state of well-being. Yet, the impact of social ostracism on over-imitation in children remains unclear. This study explored how a face-to-face triadic inclusive/ostracizing ball-tossing game affects over-imitation in predominantly White 3-year-old children (n = 43, 53.4% boys) and 5-year-old children (n = 43, 41.8% boys). Results showed that preschoolers are highly affected by social ostracism experiences, with both age groups displaying decreased positive emotionality and heightened negative emotionality when ostracized. Despite this continuity in the affective and behavioral reactions toward social exclusion, imitation fidelity is differently affected by first-person ostracism; the 3-year-olds imitated more when ostracized, whereas the 5-year-olds did so when included, signaling a developmental difference between the strategy repertoire at different ages. Overall, the current findings shed light on the social influences driving preschoolers’ over-imitation behaviors, emphasizing the importance of investigating social mechanisms underlying imitation and young children’s social cognition development.

Network analysis of misophonia symptoms using the Duke Misophonia Questionnaire

BackgroundMisophonia is a complex disorder characterized by a strong aversion to specific sounds, leading to significant distress and impairment. While the Duke Misophonia Questionnaire (DMQ) is one of the most comprehensive and validated measures for assessing misophonia, the relative importance of specific subscales and items within the DMQ remains unclear. Network analysis enables an understanding of the interconnections among subscales, providing insights into which parts of the measure are most central to the others. This study employed network analysis to examine the interconnections among DMQ subscales and identify the most central components of misophonia symptomatology. MethodsNetwork analysis was conducted on DMQ data from 144 adults with varying levels of misophonia symptoms. Four network models were examined: overall misophonia, symptoms, beliefs, and impairment. Sex differences were also explored. ResultsThe Impairment subscale emerged as the most central in the overall network for both males and females. Key items included cognitive reactions (“I need to get away from the sound,” “I thought about physically hurting the person making the sound”) as well as affective reactions (panic, anger) in the symptom sub-network, non-acceptance of misophonia beliefs (“I hate being like this”) in the belief sub-network, and deterioration of self-esteem due to misophonia in the impairment sub-network. Females reported more severe cognitive and physiological symptoms than males. ConclusionsThe DMQ Impairment subscale and specific items identified as most central in each network may represent key aspects of misophonia symptomatology. Prioritizing these components in assessment and intervention efforts may be beneficial when appropriate.

Casually cynical or trapped? Exploring gig workers’ reactions to psychological contract violation

PurposeDrawing on psychological contract (PC) theory and platform labor research, the purpose of our study was to explore gig workers’ reactions to perceived PC violation. Our study was set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought workplace health and safety issues into much sharper focus, even in nonstandard employment arrangements like gig work.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a mixed-methods design. In Study 1, we tested a conceptual model of US-based ride-hail drivers’ (n = 202) affective and cognitive reactions to Uber’s (lack of) commitment to safe working conditions. In Study 2, we conducted interviews with 32 platform workers to further explore an unexpected finding from Study 1.FindingsIn Study 1, we found that drivers’ perceptions of PC violation were related to decreased trust in Uber and higher intentions to leave this line of work; however, cynicism toward Uber only predicted withdrawal intentions for those drivers who did not believe that they had job alternatives available outside of gig work. We explored this further in Study 2, where we found that workers with low economic dependence on gig work could afford to be casually cynical toward the platform, while high-dependence workers felt “trapped” in this line of work.Originality/valueWe contribute to the social/relational theoretical approach to gig work more broadly and to the literature on PC in platform work more specifically. We also add to the emerging literature on how economic dependence shapes workers’ experience of platform work. Our findings around low-dependence gig workers experiencing a more indifferent form of cynicism – which we have termed casual cynicism – highlight the importance of treating the context of gig work as unique, not merely an extension of traditional management research.

Against Prejudice and Discrimination: Moderators of the Relationship Between College Students’ Feelings and Attitudes Towards a Peer who Stutters

ABSTRACT The few studies assessing the affective reactions of different groups of respondents to this disorder reported that their physiological or emotional responses were negative. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of college students’ gender and major on their feelings and attitudes towards a peer who stutters. The study was conducted with 342 college students aged 19–33 years from different majors. Their attitudes to stuttering peers were evaluated by the Sękowski’s Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDPS) and feelings by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). The study revealed that some gender-major interactions were associated with less negative feelings and attitudes towards stuttering peers and that different emotions about a stuttering peer led to different attitudes. In male students, the main moderating effect of the major on the relationship between negative feelings and negative attitudes was only established for students of economics. The major of female students also differentiated the relationship between negative feelings and attitudes. Teaching programmes for helping majors (paramedics/nurses) stimulate students’ positive feelings towards persons who stutter. Students in non-helping majors may need special soft skill training to develop positive attitudes towards persons with speech fluency disorders.

Affective Affordances, Networked Status Quo, and Climate Communication: An Analysis of the Mobilization of Affect on Facebook

This study achieves two objectives: (1) define two specific affordances—affective embedding and rendering—capturing the connection between affect and social media affordances from the perspectives of designers and end-users, and (2) examine the mobilization of affective reactions with an emphasis on the intersection between affective affordances and the networked status quo. A sample of 253,489 Facebook posts that contained key terms related to climate change is analyzed using a series of log-log models to examine the mobilization of affective reactions. We argue that possibilities for rendering affect using the Facebook reaction menu are nested within affective embedding and general platform affordances. Empirical analysis examines a two-step logic where the networked status quo determines content exposure, leading to content replication. Although affective reactions are primarily driven by content reach, the analysis reveals variations among six types of Facebook pages in terms of how their prominence contributes to generate affective reactions among audiences.

Organizational Intolerance to Sexual Harassment in Sexualized Work Environments: Its Effect on Workers’ Emotions and Intentions to Display Active Responses

Previous research has shown that work environments that are sexualized harm employees’ wellbeing, attitudes, and behaviors. The paper examines employees’ affective reactions and behavioral intentions in such environments depending on the strictness of anti-harassment policies. Across two studies, we hypothesize that strict policies will lead to less hostile emotions and fewer intentions to actively react (considerate voice, whistleblowing, aggressive voice, and intention to quit) compared to loose policies. The second study also investigates whether these effects stem from the perception that sexualized work environments are not viewed as instances of sexual harassment. We discuss the implications for how managers should design anti-harassment policies in organizations.

Innovations of Express Companies: Adoption of Protective Wearable Artificial Intelligence Devices by Couriers

Providing couriers with wearable artificial intelligence devices to prevent accidents is not only beneficial to the courier’s safety but will also save money in terms of insurance premiums for express companies; therefore, it is worth investigating what factors can influence the acceptance of wearable artificial intelligence devices by couriers. Push–pull–mooring (PPM) theory and affective event theory (AET) are integrated, to test couriers’ adoption of wearable safety detection devices. Social influence, perceived security, personal innovativeness, and affective event reaction are applied to the research model. Questionnaires are distributed among several listed express companies and 263 valid questionnaires are used for empirical testing. Empirical results indicated that social influence, perceived safety, personal innovativeness and affective event reaction are positively related to usage with coefficients 0.218, 0.301, 0.698 and 0.309. Personal innovativeness has positive moderating effects on relationships between affective event reaction, perceived security and usage, with coefficients 0.145 and 0.106; however, it has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between social influence and usage. The research aims to help support the proliferation and adoption of wearable artificial intelligence devices to optimize the current state of the express industry and improve the interaction between couriers and managers, creating an active management strategy that will allow express companies to thrive. The study not only provides insights to help express companies reduce insurance costs, but also provides recommendations for accelerating the company’s environmental, social and governance goals, leading sustainable development and building new corporate value.

The thousand faces of images in AI news: psychological distance, dialectical relationships and sensationalism

ABSTRACT Existing research on media coverage of AI has mostly focused on textual analysis with a lack of attention to visual factors presented in news. Moreover, studies of visual framing often rely on a small sample of manually labeled images and thus suffer from a low ecological validity. To address these issues, we used image data obtained from AItopics to cluster the images through the Resnet50 deep learning model and Kmeans++. Three major visual frames based on 10 clustering results were identified via open coding: psychological distance, dialectical relationships, and sensationalism. Specifically, by displaying a more lifelike and materialistic image of AI, news may shorten the psychological distance between readers and AI; by juxtaposing two opposite entities, news may reinforce a dialectical relationship between humans and AI; through the use of colors and symbols, news may become sensationalized and elicit affective reactions from readers. Our findings provide a new framework for analyzing media visuals about AI, and highlight the need that media reporting be more comprehensive, balanced, and objective in their selection of images to communicate topics of the like.

Exploring Guilin's Destination Image Via User-Generated Content: A Computational Methods

This study quantify mainland China's destination image through international tourists' user-generated content (UGC), with a specific focus on Guilin, utilizing advanced computational techniques such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for topic modeling and sentiment analysis. It systematically evaluates online travel reviews to distill key themes and emotional sentiments that shape Guilin's image, uncovering a rich tapestry of cognitive perceptions and affective reactions related to its natural scenery, cultural engagements, service standards, and logistical facets. The application of topic modeling and sentiment analysis provides a nuanced understanding of the cognitive and affective dimensions defining Guilin's destination image. While positive sentiments largely highlight the region's aesthetic and experiential allure, negative sentiments reveal critical areas for improvement, such as perceived value and infrastructure, which are vital for enhancing tourist satisfaction and reinforcing Guilin's appeal in the global tourism market. This research applies LDA and sentiment analysis to interpret UGC offer a calculable methodological approach for broader application in destination image studies. By aligning perceptual and emotional insights with destination marketing strategies, the findings offer actionable intelligence to optimize tourist experiences and enhance destination loyalty. This approach not only enriches the academic understanding of destination images but also provides practical frameworks for destination managers to harness the full potential of UGC in shaping and refining the global image of tourism locales.

MARKETING RESEARCH OF ENVIRONMENTAL CULTURE POPULATION OF IZHEVSK

The article presents the results of a marketing study of the environmental culture and behavior of the population of the city of Izhevsk in 2023. The goals and objectives, the population under study, the size and structure of the sample, and the analysis tools are defined. An assessment of the actual sample obtained was given, on the basis of which a database was formed and an assessment of environmental culture and behavior was carried out. This study was initiated by the author of the article with the aim of testing a previously developed marketing model for assessing the level of environmental culture and behavior of the population “cognition-feeling-action”. The study became necessary to substantiate a number of provisions in the field of: environmental management and management against the backdrop of growing environmental problems in Russia and its regions; systematization of ideas about corporate social responsibility from the standpoint of justifying the rationality of its application; formation of marketing methodology for studying environmental culture and behavior of the population. Based on the results of a mass sample survey, a general and segment-by-segment assessment of the environmental culture and behavior of the population of Izhevsk in 2023 was given. The survey made it possible to record a number of indicators of the cognitive, affective and behavioral reaction of the population in the environmental sphere in general and by segment: “young” population (18 -44 years old); “middle-aged” population (45-59 years old), “elderly” people (over 60 years old). The structure of knowledge of environmental projects and programs, public and state bodies/institutions responsible for the state of the environment in the city of Izhevsk and Udmurtia has been studied. An assessment of the environmental situation in the city of Izhevsk by segment was recorded, and differentiation of people’s opinions regarding the consequences of environmental deterioration and the relevance of environmental problems was noted. An indirect study of the behavioral attitudes of a “responsible citizen” made it possible to assess the norms of behavior of the population and their readiness to act. Based on people's opinions, a rating of the relevance of measures to improve the environmental situation in the city of Izhevsk and the Urals was formed. As a result, an assessment of ecological culture is given by segments in the “cognition-feeling-action” model and illustrated graphically.