The psychological consequences of the ecological crisis: Three new questionnaires to assess eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, and ecological grief

Csilla Ágoston; Róbert Urbán; Bence Nagy; Benedek Csaba; Zoltán Kőváry; Kristóf Kovács; Attila Varga; Andrea Dúll; Ferenc Mónus; Carrie A Shaw; Zsolt Demetrovics

doi:10.1016/j.crm.2022.100441

The psychological consequences of the ecological crisis: Three new questionnaires to assess eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, and ecological grief

Csilla Ágoston, Róbert Urbán, Bence Nagy, Benedek Csaba, Zoltán Kőváry, Kristóf Kovács, Attila Varga, Andrea Dúll, Ferenc Mónus, Carrie A Shaw, Zsolt Demetrovics

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Abstract

As climate change develops reactions such as eco-anxiety, eco-guilt and ecological grief are becoming increasingly common. Our aim was to develop questionnaires to assess these psychological consequences, and to examine their relationship with pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Items of the questionnaires were generated based on literature review and the qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews (N = 17). The first item pool was administered to a large adult sample (N = 4608) along with assessing PEB. The Eco-Guilt Questionnaire (EGuiQ-11) and the Ecological Grief Questionnaire (EGriQ-6) each had a one-factor structure, while the Eco-Anxiety Questionnaire (EAQ-22) consisted of two factors: habitual ecological worry and the negative consequences of eco-anxiety. The factors were positively associated with PEB. The questionnaires had a robust factor structure, and they are suitable for the assessment of a wide range of negative emotional states related to climate change and the ecological crisis. Our results indicate the possible utility of negative emotions in reinforcing PEB.

Original language	English
Article number	100441
Number of pages	19
Journal	Climate Risk Management
Volume	37
Early online date	20 Jul 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2022.100441
Publication status	Published - 2022
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Assessment
Climate change anxiety
Eco-anxiety
Eco-guilt
Ecological grief
Pro-environmental behavior
Questionnaire

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10.1016/j.crm.2022.100441Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Final published versionFinal published version, 565 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Ágoston, C., Urbán, R., Nagy, B., Csaba, B., Kőváry, Z., Kovács, K., Varga, A., Dúll, A., Mónus, F., Shaw, C. A., & Demetrovics, Z. (2022). The psychological consequences of the ecological crisis: Three new questionnaires to assess eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, and ecological grief. Climate Risk Management, 37, Article 100441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2022.100441

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abstract = "As climate change develops reactions such as eco-anxiety, eco-guilt and ecological grief are becoming increasingly common. Our aim was to develop questionnaires to assess these psychological consequences, and to examine their relationship with pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Items of the questionnaires were generated based on literature review and the qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews (N = 17). The first item pool was administered to a large adult sample (N = 4608) along with assessing PEB. The Eco-Guilt Questionnaire (EGuiQ-11) and the Ecological Grief Questionnaire (EGriQ-6) each had a one-factor structure, while the Eco-Anxiety Questionnaire (EAQ-22) consisted of two factors: habitual ecological worry and the negative consequences of eco-anxiety. The factors were positively associated with PEB. The questionnaires had a robust factor structure, and they are suitable for the assessment of a wide range of negative emotional states related to climate change and the ecological crisis. Our results indicate the possible utility of negative emotions in reinforcing PEB.",

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AU - Csaba, Benedek

AU - Kőváry, Zoltán

AU - Kovács, Kristóf

AU - Varga, Attila

AU - Dúll, Andrea

AU - Mónus, Ferenc

AU - Shaw, Carrie A

AU - Demetrovics, Zsolt

PY - 2022

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JO - Climate Risk Management

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The psychological consequences of the ecological crisis: Three new questionnaires to assess eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, and ecological grief

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