Don’t look up? The effect of role models on climate anxiety and climate action

The psychological consequences of climate change have gained significant attention in recent academic literature and contemporary media. This paper investigates the emerging phenome-non of climate anxiety, a psychological manifestation of anxiety in response to global climate change. The study explores the complex relationship between familiarity to climate action role models, climate anxiety and pro-environmental action. Our empirical approach includes two studies: one large-scale survey of 1,150 participants within the Impact Hub global network and one audio priming experiment among 169 students at Vienna University of Economics and Busi-ness. Results indicate that role models positively influence coping appraisal and climate action. Contrary to our expectations, we also find that familiarity with role models is associated with an increase in climate anxiety. Potential explanations for the unexpected rise in anxiety include the reduction of cognitive distance to the crisis through reflections about role models, the increase of threat appraisal, and the triggering of cognitive dissonance through self-comparisons. This study contributes to understanding the intricate dynamics between role models, climate anxiety, and effective communication strategies to promote climate action. Moreover, it provides further insights on the applicability of Protection Motivation Theory on environmental issues.