Psychological Adaptation to Climate Change and the Social Dimension of Sustainability: Environmental Identity, Eco-Emotions, and Perceived Nature Restorativeness in a National Sample

Climate adaptation depends not only on infrastructure and governance but also on the adaptive capacity of populations, whose psychological correlates are rarely quantified at a national scale. This study tests an integrative model in which environmental identity is associated with psychological adaptation to climate change directly and indirectly through perceived nature restorativeness, a perceptual indicator of a cultural ecosystem service, and negative eco-emotions. Data were obtained from a nationally representative cross-sectional sample of Greek adults (n = 552; stratified systematic random sampling) and analysed with covariance-based structural equation modelling. Environmental identity was positively associated with perceived restorativeness (β = 0.606, p < 0.001), psychological adaptation (β = 0.354, p < 0.001) and eco-emotions (β = 0.211, p = 0.001). Perceived restorativeness was positively related to negative eco-emotions (β = 0.128, p = 0.031), which were in turn associated with adaptation (β = 0.237, p < 0.001); no direct restorativeness–adaptation path was supported. The model explained 36.7%, 23.0% and 9.3% of the variance in restorativeness, adaptation and eco-emotions. These population-level estimates offer baseline social indicators for monitoring adaptive capacity, and identify access to restorative green and blue space and climate-aware mental health services as candidate priorities for the social dimension of sustainable development under SDG 3, 11 and 13.