Eco-anxiety, Psychology, and Theological Beliefs About Creation Among Clergy and Lay People in the Church of England

Interest in eco-anxiety is growing rapidly, partly for therapeutic reasons and partly because it may be a motivation for pro-environmental behaviours. There is little study of how religious identities or church traditions and specific theological beliefs are related to eco-anxiety. This cross-sectional survey of 3240 clergy and laity from the Church of England explored the relationships between eco-anxiety, psychological dispositions, church tradition, and specific theological beliefs about creation. Eco-anxiety was measured using a subset of items from the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale. The number of eco-friendly activities increased with eco-anxiety, although the relationship was asymptotic rather than linear. The distribution of eco-anxiety symptom counts was zero inflated. Those recording zero symptoms were more likely to be younger, male, and Evangelical than those recording one or more symptoms. Recording zero symptoms seemed to be partly a mark of ideological 'eco-denial'. Psychological predictors of eco-anxiety were high emotional volatility scores (neuroticism), low thinking scores, and, to a lesser extent, low sensing scores. Theological beliefs about human dominion over creation and about divine rather than human control of the fate of the Earth predicted lower eco-anxiety, while theological beliefs about human stewardship and about the sacramental nature of creation predicted higher eco-anxiety. The effect of theological conservatism on predicting zero eco-anxiety was less important for Evangelicals, who were generally more conservative, than it was for other church traditions. Eco-anxiety in this religious sample was shaped by the complex effects of psychological dispositions, specific theological beliefs about creation, church tradition, and theological conservatism.