The current paper presents an international comparison of emotional reactions to climate change. Emotions are a strong motivational force and influence both judgments and behaviors in manifold ways. The present paper draws on appraisal theories of emotion according to which emotions are based on specific cognitive appraisals of the situation. The present study compares the following four specific emotions that we have shown in our previous research to be important in the context of environmental risks (e.g., Böhm, 2003; Böhm & Pfister, 2000, 2005, 2015): hope, fear, outrage, and guilt. We expect the following relationships between emotions and underlying cognitive appraisals: Both hope and fear are assumed to indicate that a person focuses on potential future consequences. While hope implies that negative consequences appear avoidable or positive consequences achievable, fear anticipates exclusively negative consequences. Outrage and guilt are hypothesized to be based on moral evaluations; outrage implying that others are seen as culprits whereas guilt results from self-blame.
This paper uses survey data collected in the ‘European Perceptions of Climate Change’ project using representative national samples (each approximately N = 1000) from Great Britain, Germany, Norway, and France.
Results show that Norway and UK on the one hand and Germany and France on the other hand show similar profiles of emotional responses. While in Norway and UK hope is the most intense emotional response to climate change, fear and outrage dominate in France and Germany. Across all countries, outrage is the most and guilt the least intense reported emotion. With respect to underlying cognitive appraisals, we largely find the expected relationships. Hope decreases with increasing severity of anticipated climate change impacts. Hope increases with beliefs that imply that the problem may be solved, such as perceived collective efficacy in tackling climate change and perceived climate engagement in one’s social environment. Fear is mainly related to the severity of anticipated climate change impacts and the personal relevance of these impacts. Having moral concerns with respect to climate change is a strong predictor of all emotions.
Results document the important role and cultural diversity of emotional responses to climate change and support appraisal theoretical approaches to explaining emotional reactions. The implications of the findings for engaging the public with the issue of climate change in varying socio-political and cultural contexts will be discussed.