Thread by @KA_Nicholas

“Information is not enough for people to act.” #climate psychology, activism and anxiety by @FridaHylander at @SkaneXr @LUCSUS_LU

What's needed for people to #ActOnClimate? @FridaHylander uses "Model of helping" to understand #climate psychology.
To motivate action, people need to:
1. notice an event
2. interpret the problem as an emergency
3. feel personal responsibility.

1. Notice event- barriers to notice #climatechange include:
Humans perceive emotionally, not rationally
Slow gradual threats seen as risky as fast, vivid ones
"villains" are easier to blame than nature
Living in cities, far from nature
fragmented knowledge
-@FridaHylander

2. Interpret problem as emergency- barriers include some nice winter days (how can this be a problem?), optimism bias (Western world thinks future always better, at least for ourselves), hope for tech salvation, conservative political ideology. -@FridaHylander

3. Feel personal responsibility- "We need to think about what our responsibilities as humans are. What do we feel responsible for?" barriers include diffusion of responsibility- if everyone is responsible no one is, uncertainty who should do what. @FridaHylander

4. Forming an idea what to do- many get stuck here! @FridaHylander

5. Ability to actually perform the action- remember that the sustainability crisis is also for us people, not just for the planet- many too stressed after meeting daily responsibilities, the thought of doing one more thing is just too much. @FridaHylander

I spoke too soon, there are 5 steps to helping- here are all of them! @FridaHylander

@FridaHylander describes four stages of engagement for #ClimateAction - often starts with personal behavior change, leading to political and civil engagement, perhaps high profile activism.

What motivates people to become (#climate) activists? Social reward often important to collective action, belief you can make a change, that you + others will benefit, normative (others expect you to, conversely avoided if others don't approve). @FridaHylander

Self and collective efficacy important motivation for pro-environmental behavior: belief you can succeed. Group identity and good vibes also draw people in (perhaps to deal with climate anxiety). Carrying out group actions can regulate individual & group feelings! @FridaHylander

Factors that mobilize activists and #ClimateAction (but strongest predictor is “politicized environmental identification”- a collective of people who create sociopolitical change). @FridaHylander

Remember the “spectrum of allies” (not to scale) - ignore the few (but loud!) active #climate opponents and focus on growing the large slice of passive #climate allies @FridaHylander

Suggested strategy by @FridaHylander to expand the reach of #climateaction: Recuit more and more diverse messengers and messages, make people feel welcome

5 ways to deal with #climate anxiety and grief:
1. Deny/diminish
2. Ruminate (try to solve problem just by thinking about it)
3. Seek support
4. Act!
5. Find meaning and hope by being part of the change that will help us fight #climatechange.
@FridaHylander

Critical closing message from @FridaHylander: #ClimateAction is for the long haul and we must rest and develop practices to strengthen our resilience.