New publication: Hope is a side effect of caring for the Earth
Source: Colourbox
A recent set of experimental studies looked at whether doing something good for the environment can help people deal with their emotions when hearing about serious problems like biodiversity loss. In the studies, participants read about environmental threats and then did tasks that either supported environmental causes or had nothing to do with the environment.
The findings are striking: those who took pro-environmental actions reported increased feelings of hope—and in some cases, reduced fear and guilt. Interestingly, when controlling for time-related effects, hope was the only emotion that consistently increased.
These results suggest that acting for the planet not only makes a difference out there but can also trigger positive feelings and reduce negative ones within us
Zeier, P., Lange, F., Rowland, Z., Wessa, M., & Wenzel, M. (2025). A glimmer of hope: Pro-environmental behavior increases positive emotions after confrontation with environmental threat. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 103, 102575. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102575
