Wessel, Josefina (2024) Eco-emotions of Climate Activists. Bachelor thesis, Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL).
|
PDF
BA4925572JVWessel.pdf Download (2MB) | Preview |
Abstract
This paper examines the eco-emotions experienced by climate activists in relation to the climate crisis. An increasing amount of scholarly literature has established the impact of climate change on people's emotional states and experiences. The complexity of the climate crisis and varying perspectives on it due to differing cultural, social, and political contexts along with individual knowledge and values result in contrasting findings and limited research. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of positive and negative eco-emotions among environmental activists living in different countries, and to explore their emotions before and after personal or collective mitigations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen climate activists from the Netherlands, UK, France, Zimbabwe, Mexico and Austria. Results of the study highlighted a wide range of interlinked eco-emotions with the most prevalent eco-emotions being sadness, anger and grief in addition to some positive emotions, mainly joy, admiration, hope, and trust. Furthermore, changes in eco-emotions before and after engaging in pro-environmental behavior were found. Moreover, a significant difference in frequency and variety of eco-emotions occurred between self-reported eco-emotions and elicited eco-emotions. Although the study is subject to various limitations, the findings still contribute valuable qualitative insights about eco-emotions and the emotional experiences of climate activists. Gaining insight into eco-emotions linked to environmental activism has considerable implications for promoting pro-environmental actions and individual well-being.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Name supervisor: | Gallo, V. |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Jun 2024 08:39 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Jun 2024 08:39 |
| URI: | https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/429 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |