Face it and shoulder it jointly: from personal experience to mitigation behavior of climate change

Yuling Fu (), Jiaxin Shi, Dan Su and Fumin Deng
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Yuling Fu: Chengdu University of Technology
Jiaxin Shi: South China Normal University
Dan Su: Southwest University
Fumin Deng: Sichuan University

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2024, vol. 26, issue 7, No 38, 17319-17333

Abstract: Abstract People are increasingly exposed to extreme weather events with the escalation of global warming. Understanding how individuals face and respond to it is crucial for climate mitigation. In the present study, we surveyed a sample of 856 people in five metropolitan areas in China to examine how personal experiences of extreme weather events affect individuals’ low-carbon behavior through consequential and moral processing of climate change. The results indicate that people with personal experience of extreme weather events show significantly better cognitive judgment, emotional reactions, and mitigation behavior than those without such experience. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to illustrate that personal experience can initiate a sense of collective morality about climate change and predict the adoption of mitigating behaviors. Additionally, it can be seen that cognitive processing precedes emotional processing in the context of climate change. The present findings provide some evidence at the individual level for further moral philosophical discussions about climate change and offer insights for social solutions about promoting sustainable environmental behaviors. We point out that mechanisms of social cooperation among collectives and individuals used to deal with climate change deserve further research. We also discuss the implications and limitations.

Keywords: Personal experience; Climate mitigation behavior; Collective obligation; Risk perception (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-03339-1

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