Turning eco-anxiety into pro-environmental behaviour: risk perception as mediator

The aim of this research was to explore the potential link between eco-anxiety and the promotion of pro-environmental actions. Drawing on the concept of "risk as affect," which emphasizes the influence of emotions on risk perceptions and decisions, our objective was to investigate whether the perception of environmental risks mediates the relationship between eco-anxiety and pro-environmental behavior. This hypothesis was examined across three distinct studies. In Study 1, involving 66 participants and utilizing a mixed-methods approach, findings revealed that contemplating emotions, thoughts, and actions related to the environment correlated with increased donations to environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs).Study 2, which involved 511 participants and employed a cross-sectional design, directly assessed the associations among eco-anxiety, risk perception, and selfreported pro-environmental behaviors. Results indicated that eco-anxiety was linked to a higher frequency of self-reported pro-environmental behavior indirectly through heightened risk perception. Conversely, an alternative model, where risk perception was the independent variable and eco-anxiety the mediator, showed no significant indirect effect of eco-anxiety. Study 3 expanded on these findings with 1325 participants by inducing eco-anxiety experimentally and measuring both eco-anxiety state and risk perception. The results of sequential mediation analyses demonstrated the combined indirect effect of eco-anxiety state and risk perception on the relationship between the experimental conditions (control, lower eco-anxiety, higher eco-anxiety) and donations to environmental NGOs. Taken together, these studies suggest that eco-anxiety may stimulate pro-environmental behavior by prompting individuals to contemplate the risks posed by environmental challenges.