What Drives Pro-Environmental Behavior? Investigating the Role of Eco-Worry and Eco-Anxiety in Young Adults
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| Yayımlandı: | Sustainability vol. 17, no. 10 (2025), p. 4543 |
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| Yazar: | |
| Diğer Yazarlar: | , , |
| Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: |
MDPI AG
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| Konular: | |
| Online Erişim: | Citation/Abstract Full Text + Graphics Full Text - PDF |
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| Özet: | Climate change (CC) is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Research suggests that pro-environmental behaviors (PEB) are essential to address this crisis, encompassing sustainable consumption (e.g., recycling or saving energy) and active participation (e.g., protesting or donating). In this regard, young adults play a significant role as change agents. Considering the previous literature affirming the importance of CC emotions on PEB, this study aims to analyze the mediating role of eco-worry and eco-anxiety in the relationship between two cognitive antecedents (general willingness to behave pro-environmentally and CC agency) and two types of PEB (sustainable consumption and active participation). To do so, we gathered a sample of 308 young adults aged 18 to 30 years. Results show that eco-worry mediates the relationships between both antecedents (willingness and CC agency) with sustainable consumption and active participation. In contrast, eco-anxiety in young adults only mediates the relationship between CC agency and active participation. Our findings suggest that eco-worry plays a crucial role in promoting PEB more broadly, while eco-anxiety appears to be only relevant in influencing active participation. These results contrast with others observed in the adult population, so further studies are needed to confirm these findings. |
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| ISSN: | 2071-1050 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/su17104543 |
| Kaynak: | Publicly Available Content Database |