Background: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between exposure to climate change information in traditional and modern media, cognitive and emotional aspects of climate change risk judgment, and pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Method: A cross-sectional online study was conducted on a quota sample of 1,075 participants (51.9% women) aged 18–79 years. Participants self-reported their exposure to climate change-related information in traditional (e.g. television) and modern media (e.g. social networks), cognitive assessment of climate change risk, level of worry about climate change, and the frequency of PEB. Results: Structural equation modeling showed a good fit for the parallel mediation model, involving cognitive risk judgment and worry as mediators between exposure to climate change information in traditional and modern media and PEB. Exposure to climate change information in traditional media had indirect effect on PEB through heightened worry, but not cognitive risk judgment. In contrast, exposure to climate change information in modern media had no indirect effect on PEB. Conclusion: Since the link between exposure to climate change information in traditional media and PEB has been shown to be mediated by climate change worry, it is important to enhance the coverage of climate change in traditional media in Croatia, taking care to offer solutions to reduce possible negative impact on people’s well-being.

Background: Conservation of resources theory (COR) establishes a link between resource loss and the stress response. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of resource loss in the form of home damage and the choice of active or passive coping strategies to PTSD symptoms in survivors of the 2020 Petrinja (Croatia) earthquake. Methods: A total of 374 adults (29.9% men) aged 18–64 years living in the counties surrounding the epicenter of the Petrinja (Croatia) earthquake participated in an online cross-sectional survey. The questionnaire included the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Coping Inventory, and the binary item assessing whether or not the participants' home was damaged. Results: Hierarchical regression analysis showed that home damage was a significant predictor of PTSD symptoms. Participants whose homes were damaged by the earthquake were significantly more likely to use passive coping strategies, namely avoidance and emotional venting, and one active coping strategy, action, than those whose homes were spared. Finally, more frequent use of passive coping was associated with a higher risk of PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: The study corroborates the COR theory link between resource loss and the stress response, as well as the general consensus that passive coping is a less adaptive strategy than active coping. In addition to passive coping, individuals who lacked resources may have been inclined to take some active steps because they either needed to repair or relocate their homes and because most buildings were only moderately to minimally damaged in the Petrinja earthquake.

Efficacy beliefs are important determinants of human behavior. In the context of social cognitive theory, the perception of collective efficacy is closely related to the individual perception of self-efficacy, which is influenced by socio-structural factors such as socioeconomic status (SES). Surprisingly, the relationship between these variables has received little attention in the literature on environmental issues. Within the framework of social cognitive theory, the aim of this study was to investigate whether SES has a direct effect on pro-environmental behavior and whether it has an indirect effect via perceptions of self-efficacy and collective efficacy, in relation to climate change mitigation behavior. An online cross-sectional study was conducted using a quota sample of 1075 participants (51.9% women) aged 18–79 years. Participants reported their SES using objective and subjective measures, perceptions of their own and collective efficacy in mitigating climate change, and the frequency of their pro-environmental behaviors. Structural equation modeling revealed that the model with serial mediation effects of self-efficacy and collective efficacy between SES (both objective and subjective) and pro-environmental behaviors showed a good model fit. As expected, both objective and subjective SES had no direct effect on pro-environmental behavior. Surprisingly, neither objective nor subjective SES had an indirect effect (via efficacy beliefs) on pro-environmental behavior. However, both self-efficacy and collective efficacy were associated with pro-environmental behavior. These findings have practical implications for the development of strategies aimed at enhancing pro-environmental behavior.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of harmonious and obsessive passion for playing video games with behavioral school engagement, and to determine whether these two types of passion are indirectly related to behavioral school engagement through time spent playing video games. Data for this correlational, on-line study were collected from a convenience quota sample of 568 high-school students (55.5% boys) between 14 and 19 years old (M = 15.89; SD = 1.16). Participants self-reported their passion for playing video games, the amount of time they spent playing video games, and their behavioral school engagement. Path analysis showed that both harmonious and obsessive passion exerted direct effects on behavioral school engagement, as well as indirect effects through time spent playing video games. Higher harmonious passion was directly related to higher school engagement, but it was also indirectly related to lower school engagement because of its association with more time spent playing video games. In contrast, higher obsessive passion was related to lower school engagement both directly as well as indirectly through its association with more time spent playing. The results are discussed in the context of the dualistic model of passion.

Some researchers suggest that fear can motivate climate protection measures by increasing risk perception. Others argue that fear-based messages can lead to avoidance or denial, making positive messages such as appeals to hope a more effective strategy. This study aimed to investigate whether textual appeals to fear are more effective than appeals to hope or neutral stimuli in increasing climate change risk perceptions and whether there is a difference between appeals to hope and neutral messages. This experimental study involved 233 university students (48.5% women) aged 18 to 33. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (fear, hope, and neutral), after which their risk perceptions of climate change were measured. A one-way ANOVA showed that there were no significant differences in risk perception between the three groups, suggesting that neither fear nor hope appeals were more effective than neutral stimuli in increasing risk perception of climate change.