Large-scale environmental crises are genuinely collective phenomena: they usually result from collective, rather than personal, behavior and how they are cognitively represented and appraised is determined by collectively shared interpretations (e.g., differing across ideological groups) and based on concern for collectives (e.g., humankind, future generations) rather than for individuals. Nevertheless, pro-environmental action has been primarily investigated as a personal decision-making process. We complement this research with a social identity perspective on pro-environmental action. Social identity is the human capacity to define the self in terms of "We" instead of "I," enabling people to think and act as collectives, which should be crucial given personal insufficiency to appraise and effectively respond to environmental crises. We propose a Social Identity Model of Pro-Environmental Action (SIMPEA) of how social identity processes affect both appraisal of and behavioral responses to large-scale environmental crises. We review related and pertinent research providing initial evidence for the role of 4 social identity processes hypothesized in SIMPEA. Specifically, we propose that ingroup identification, ingroup norms and goals, and collective efficacy determine environmental appraisals as well as both private and public sphere environmental action. These processes are driven by personal and collective emotions and motivations that arise from environmental appraisal and operate on both a deliberate and automatic processing level. Finally, we discuss SIMPEA's implications for the research agenda in environmental and social psychology and for interventions fostering pro-environmental action. (PsycINFO Database Record

The climate crisis is an unprecedented existential threat that causes disturbing emotions, such as anxiety. Recently, Clayton and Karazsia measured climate anxiety as “a more clinically significant ‘anxious’ response to climate change” (2020, p. 9). To gain a more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon from an empirical psychological perspective, we translated the core of the Climate Anxiety Scale into German and assessed potential correlates in a large German-speaking quota sample (N = 1011, stratified by age and gender). Overall, people reported low levels of climate anxiety. Climate anxiety correlated positively with general anxiety and depressiveness, avoidance of climate change in everyday life, frustration of basic psychological needs, pro-environmental behavioral intentions, and policy support. It correlated negatively with different forms of climate denial and was unrelated to ideological beliefs. We were not able to replicate the two dimensions found in the original scale. Moreover, we argue that items appear to measure a general climate-related emotional impairment, rather than distinctly and comprehensively capturing climate anxiety. Thus, we encourage researchers to rework the scale and include an emotional factor in future research efforts.

Globalization—the increasing interconnectedness of societies, economies, and cultures—is a defining feature of contemporary social life. Paradoxically, it underlies both the dynamics of global crises (e.g., rising inequality, climate change) and the possibilities for ameliorating them. In this review, we introduce globalization as a multifaceted process and elaborate its psychological effects with respect to identity, culture, and collective action. Using a social identity approach, we discuss three foci of identification: local culture, globalized Western culture, and humanity in its entirety. Each source of identification is analyzed in terms of its psychological meaning and position vis-à-vis the global power structure. Globalized Western culture forms the basis for an exclusive globalized identity, which privileges only some cultures and ways of life. We conceptualize reactions to its core values in terms of cultural identification and rejection and acceptance of, or opposition to, its global social order. Opposition to this inequitable global order is central to inclusive globalized identities (e.g., identification with humanity). These identities may encourage globally minded collective action, even as more research is needed to address their potential caveats. We consider possibilities for social change and action and conclude that a focused application of psychological science to the study of these issues is overdue.

Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing refers to a therapeutic, immersive nature experience that aids to improve well-being. The goal of the current research was to compare the effects of a physical urban nature versus virtual nature experience on stress, affect, vitality, and restoration. Previous research suggested that an immersive nature experience—such as shinrin-yoku—can be beneficial for health, but direct comparisons between physical and virtual reality (VR) experiences are scarce. In the current study, fifty participants navigated self-paced through a forest scene that was either an urban physical forest or an immersive VR forest with similar characteristics as the physical one. Before and after the intervention, we measured positive and negative affect, subjective vitality, and perceived daily stress. After the intervention, we measured perceived restorative outcomes. Results revealed that both VR and physical nature experience resulted in expected effects on well-being indicators: Affect was more positive and less negative, subjective vitality increased slightly, and stress decreased slightly after both interventions. There were no significant differences between the two settings on any of the variables, but slightly stronger effect sizes over time within the physical condition. Overall, these findings suggest that immersive VR nature experiences can have restoration effects similar to physical nature experiences, suggesting intervention strategies when physical nature options are scarce.