Holz, Lena (2024) Persistent and Momentary Forms of General and Specific Climate Anxiety: The Effect of Exposure to Climate Change-Related Media Coverage on Momentary General and Flood-Specific Climate Anxiety. Research Master thesis, Research Master.
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Abstract
The media extensively covers global climate change (CC). Reading such reports likely triggers general climate anxiety (CA); so far, only one study confirmed the causal link between exposure to media coverage on global CC and general CA. The media reports increasingly more on specific and local CC consequences, which we postulated can evoke specific forms of CA. People strongly attached to a place might be more sensitive to reports about local and specific CC consequences as they care more about the place potentially being negatively affected. Thus, we hypothesized that different forms of CA exist and that individuals with stronger place attachment would react stronger to news about specific CC consequences, resulting in higher specific CA. We tested this with an online experimental study (N = 214) in the Netherlands. Results showed that reading global CC news increased general CA in the moment (i.e., momentary) while reading news about CC-caused floods increased momentary flood-specific CA; place attachment did not influence this relationship. Both news types increased both forms of momentary CA, suggesting a close relationship between the two concepts. However, as they were not perfectly related, they could be differentiated. Results showed that CA over a longer period (i.e., persistent) predicted momentary CA (for both forms) and were positively correlated, indicating reciprocity. These findings suggest a model where persistent and momentary CA mutually influence each other, with reading CC-related news reinforcing momentary CA. This scenario needs empirical testing, and more research on supporting individuals experiencing CA is urgently necessary.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Research Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Valkengoed, A.M. van |
| Degree programme: | Research Master |
| Differentiation route: | Other [Research Master] |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Jul 2024 10:00 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Jul 2024 10:00 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4207 |
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