A wise person plants a tree a day before the end of the world : coping with the emotional experience of climate change in Poland

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cris.lastimport.scopus2025-08-31T03:11:24Z
dc.abstract.enIt is now widely accepted that we are in a climate emergency, and the number of people who are concerned about this problem is growing. Yet, qualitative, in-depth studies to investigate the emotional response to climate change were conducted either in high-income, western countries, or in low-income countries particularly vulnerable to climate change. To our knowledge, there are no qualitative studies conducted in countries that share great barriers to decarbonization while being significant contributors to carbon emissions. Since climate change affects people globally, it is crucial to study this topic in a variety of socio-political contexts. In this work, we discuss views and reflections voiced by highly concerned residents of Poland, a Central European country that is a major contributor to Europe's carbon emissions. We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews with Polish residents, who self-identified as concerned about climate change. A variety of emotions related to climate change were identified and placed in the context of four major themes: dangers posed by climate change, the inevitability of its consequences, attributions of responsibility, and commonality of concern. Our findings highlight a variety of often ambivalent and conflicting emotions that change along with the participant’s thoughts, experiences and behaviours. Furthermore, we describe a wide repertoire of coping strategies, which promoted well-being and sustained long-term engagement in climate action. As such, our work contributes to research on a broad array of climate-related emotions.
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii i Prawa w Poznaniu
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorZaremba, D.
dc.contributor.authorKulesza, M.
dc.contributor.authorHerman, A. M.
dc.contributor.authorMarczak, M.
dc.contributor.authorKossowski, B.
dc.contributor.authorBudziszewska, M.
dc.contributor.authorMichałowski, Jarosław
dc.contributor.authorKlöckner, C. A.
dc.contributor.authorMarchewka, A.
dc.contributor.authorWierzba, M.
dc.date.access2024-11-08
dc.date.accessioned2024-11-08T09:24:13Z
dc.date.available2024-11-08T09:24:13Z
dc.date.created2022-09-21
dc.date.issued2022-10-14
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>It is now widely accepted that we are in a climate emergency, and the number of people who are concerned about this problem is growing. Yet, qualitative, in-depth studies to investigate the emotional response to climate change were conducted either in high-income, western countries, or in low-income countries particularly vulnerable to climate change. To our knowledge, there are no qualitative studies conducted in countries that share great barriers to decarbonization while being significant contributors to carbon emissions. Since climate change affects people globally, it is crucial to study this topic in a variety of socio-political contexts. In this work, we discuss views and reflections voiced by highly concerned residents of Poland, a Central European country that is a major contributor to Europe's carbon emissions. We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews with Polish residents, who self-identified as concerned about climate change. A variety of emotions related to climate change were identified and placed in the context of four major themes: dangers posed by climate change, the inevitability of its consequences, attributions of responsibility, and commonality of concern. Our findings highlight a variety of often ambivalent and conflicting emotions that change along with the participant’s thoughts, experiences and behaviours. Furthermore, we describe a wide repertoire of coping strategies, which promoted well-being and sustained long-term engagement in climate action. As such, our work contributes to research on a broad array of climate-related emotions.</jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeafter_publication
dc.description.grantnumber2019/34/H/HS6/00677
dc.description.issue31
dc.description.physical27167–27185
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume42
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s12144-022-03807-3
dc.identifier.issn1046-1310
dc.identifier.issn1936-4733
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/1082
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_JOURNAL
dc.subject.enClimate change
dc.subject.enEmotion
dc.subject.enCoping strategies
dc.subject.enClimate anxiety
dc.swps.sciencecloudnosend
dc.titleA wise person plants a tree a day before the end of the world : coping with the emotional experience of climate change in Poland
dc.title.journalCurrent Psychology
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle