Bünning, Neele Marie (2025) Does Environmental Knowledge Relate to Ecoanxiety? The Moderating Role of Green Self-Efficacy and Coping. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Theories suggest that increased public knowledge about the global environmental crisis can impact mental well-being, such as leading to eco-anxiety (Pihkala, 2022). However, from current research, it remains unclear whether increased environmental knowledge, indeed, is associated with higher levels of eco-anxiety and which psychological mechanisms help buffer this effect. Proposing a new approach, we argue that the established protective factors green self-efficacy as well as problem- and emotion-focused coping moderate the link between environmental knowledge and eco-anxiety. In a cross-sectional, correlational design with a sample of environmental science and psychology students (N = 417), we found that people with higher levels of environmental knowledge also reported higher levels of eco-anxiety. Contrary to our expectations, neither having high levels of green self-efficacy nor applying problem-focused coping moderated this relationship. Notably, higher levels of emotion-focused coping were even associated with an intensified relationship, such that people with higher levels of environmental knowledge experienced stronger eco-anxiety when actively engaging with their environmental distress. Taken together, our results suggest that the more the public knows about the global environmental crisis, the higher the level of eco-anxiety they report. Thereby, our findings advise caution when promoting emotional engagement as a coping strategy in environmental education, as it may even intensify the association.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Sharpe, E.J. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Environmental Psychology (EP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Jul 2025 09:16 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Jul 2025 09:16 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5727 |
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