Pro-environmental behaviour or eco-paralysis?

Abstract

Introduction: The climate crisis is a social injustice phenomenon and social inequality due to the climate crisis is increasing. There is an urgent need to study the climate crisis as a social crisis. This study shifts away from looking at individual actions but is rather focused on collective behaviour. Climate change anxiety is an increasingly urgent issue that is currently left out of policies. The research objective therefore is; what is the effect of social cohesion on sustainable behaviour and is this effect moderated by climate change stress? Theory: The Social Identity Theory and its relevance to understanding how social cohesion influences sustainable behaviour is explored. The importance of ingroup identification and social norms in shaping behaviour is emphasized in this theory. The potential influence of climate anxiety on sustainable behaviour is discussed with the Uncertainty Identity theory. Method: The Cultural Changes in the Netherlands and the Living Situation Index questionnaires of 2018 were used to conduct one simple linear regression analysis and two multiple linear regression analyses by making use of IBM SPSS 27. Results: There were no significant effects of social cohesion on sustainable behaviour and of the moderating effect of climate stress found. The hypotheses are rejected. Conclusion and policy advice: Social cohesion does not have a significant effect on sustainable behaviour, possibly due to measuring low-cost behaviours and using a single item to measure sustainable behaviour. Climate anxiety is found to be a significant predictor of sustainable behaviour, but increasing anxiety is not recommended. The policy advice is improving mental health care facilities and support from non-governmental organizations. It also emphasizes the need for government changes and climate action policies.