Pieters, E.C. (2026) Hope or Fear? The Effects of Climate Change Message Framing and Self-Efficacy on Pro-Environmental Behavioural Intentions. Bachelor thesis, Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL).
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Abstract
Climate change is an urgent matter that requires an increase in pro-environmental behaviour. Communication about climate change plays an important role in promoting pro-environmental behaviour, yet the effectiveness of different message framing strategies in this context remains unclear. This study investigates how hope- and fear-based messages influence willingness to engage in pro-environmental behaviour, and whether self-efficacy mediates this relationship. Based on the Protection Motivation Theory and literature on self-efficacy, an experimental design was used in which participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: hope-based messages, fear-based messages without proposed action, or fear-based messages with proposed action. Participants were exposed to news messages aligned with their condition, and after that completed measures of self-efficacy and pro-environmental behavioural intentions. Manipulation checks confirmed that the framing conditions successfully induced the intended emotional responses. Results showed a significant effect of message framing on behavioural intentions. Participants exposed to fear-based messages with proposed action reported significantly higher behavioural intentions than participants exposed to fear-based messages without proposed action. No significant differences were found between the hope condition and the fear-based condition with proposed action. Mediation analyses further revealed that self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between message framing and behavioural intentions. Both hope-based messages and fear-based messages with proposed action increased self-efficacy compared to fear-based messages without proposed action, which in turn predicted stronger pro-environmental behavioural intentions. These findings suggest that climate communication is most effective when it increases individuals’ feelings of self-efficacy. The study contributes to a better understanding of the psychological factors underlying climate change communication and shows the importance of including proposed action in messages.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Name supervisor: | Unal, A.B. |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Jun 2026 11:45 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Jun 2026 11:45 |
| URI: | https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/816 |
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