Social Orientations, Preferred Values or Political Beliefs: What Predicts Anxiety and Interest in Climate Change?

An understanding of the psychosocial factors that influence an individual’s attitude towards climate change and the potential impact of these factors on sustainability could prove valuable in the development of future programmes and campaigns designed to encourage more eco-friendly behaviours. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the relationship between anxiety about climate change, climate change curiosity, and a number of variables pertaining to psychosocial functioning, including social orientations, preferred values, and political beliefs. This study involved a sample of 277 people (Mage = 30.10; SD age = 9.32) who completed a series of scales: The Climate Anxiety Scale, The Curiosity of Climate Changes Scale, Agency/Communion Scale, The Portrait Values Questionnaire, and The Political Beliefs Questionnaire. The regression analysis revealed that two aspects of social orientation, namely unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion, were predictive of anxiety about climate change. Conversely, curiosity about climate change was not predicted by different aspects of social orientation. The self-transcendence metacategory of values was found to positively predict climate anxiety, whereas the conservation metacategory of values predicts it negatively. Political beliefs were not found to predict fear of climate change; however, some aspects of political beliefs were predictive of interest in climate change. Furthermore, a cluster analysis identified three distinct clusters of participants, distinguished by varying scores on the climate anxiety and climate curiosity scales. These clusters were characterised as follows: Anxious (individuals with high levels of climate anxiety and high levels of climate curiosity), Curious (individuals with low levels of climate anxiety and high levels of climate curiosity) and Disinterested (individuals with low levels of climate anxiety and low levels of climate curiosity). The individuals grouped within these clusters demonstrated differences in some aspects of social orientation, preferred values, and political beliefs.