Version 1
: Received: 8 March 2024 / Approved: 8 March 2024 / Online: 8 March 2024 (10:36:45 CET)
Version 2
: Received: 22 March 2024 / Approved: 24 March 2024 / Online: 25 March 2024 (08:47:35 CET)
Vecina, M.L.; Alonso-Ferres, M.; López-García, L.; Díaz-Silveira, C. Eco-Anxiety and Trust in Science in Spain: Two Paths to Connect Climate Change Perceptions and General Willingness for Environmental Behavior. Sustainability2024, 16, 3187.
Vecina, M.L.; Alonso-Ferres, M.; López-García, L.; Díaz-Silveira, C. Eco-Anxiety and Trust in Science in Spain: Two Paths to Connect Climate Change Perceptions and General Willingness for Environmental Behavior. Sustainability 2024, 16, 3187.
Vecina, M.L.; Alonso-Ferres, M.; López-García, L.; Díaz-Silveira, C. Eco-Anxiety and Trust in Science in Spain: Two Paths to Connect Climate Change Perceptions and General Willingness for Environmental Behavior. Sustainability2024, 16, 3187.
Vecina, M.L.; Alonso-Ferres, M.; López-García, L.; Díaz-Silveira, C. Eco-Anxiety and Trust in Science in Spain: Two Paths to Connect Climate Change Perceptions and General Willingness for Environmental Behavior. Sustainability 2024, 16, 3187.
Abstract
This article aims to understand better the mechanisms that connect climate change perceptions and general willingness to engage in environmental behavior in a sample of Spanish participants. To do this, we first developed and validated the General Willingness for Environmental Behavior Scale (GWEBS), which includes the classical approach of voluntarily doing new actions but also actions implying not doing things (decreasing) and actions forced by social constraints. Participants were n = 403. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit for the one-factor structure, which had adequate validity based on their relationship with other variables. In second place, the study found that eco-anxiety fully mediated the relationship between climate change perceptions and the GWEBS, making it a crucial variable to mobilize the intention to act following the perception. However, trust in science partially mediated the relationship between climate change perceptions and the GWEBS, suggesting that climate change perception and trust in science are essential. This study may provide a clear direction for future research and contributes to our understanding of the psychological mechanisms that drive pro-environmental behavior.
Keywords
Eco-anxiety; Trust in Science; Climate Change perception; Environmental Behaviour
Subject
Social Sciences, Psychology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
