Students’ climate change emotions, attitudes, and self-efficacy in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary

Climate-related emotions, attitudes, and self-efficacy are increasingly recognized as interlinked drivers of adolescents’ pro-environmental behavior, yet evidence on their joint role across cultural contexts remains limited. This study explores the interplay between climate-related emotions, attitudes, and pro-environmental behaviors among secondary school students from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. It is based on previous studies focused on eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, and environmental hope of students in various countries, as well as research investigating the factors influencing human pro-environmental behavior. Collecting data from 17-year-old students in October 2022 (N = 6,477), it analyzed the role of climate-related emotions in shaping students’ behaviors and actions. Based on the findings, while eco-anxiety and climate change attitudes were linked to habitual pro-environmental behaviors (e.g. recycling, energy conservation), their impact on deliberate pro-environmental actions was indirect, mediated by environmental self-efficacy and eco-guilt. Environmental self-efficacy emerged as the strongest predictor of pro-environmental behavior. While girls exhibited a higher level of almost all emotions than boys, country differences had no practical significance. Based on these findings, the study emphasizes the importance of fostering students’ environmental self-efficacy and equipping them with coping strategies with climate-related emotions.