Discrete Emotions in Environmental Decision-Making

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Background

For the past few decades, emotion research has demonstrated how emotional valence differentially influences individuals’ decision making. However, much less attention has been paid to how discrete emotions influence outcomes associated with sustainability issues, potentially due to the complex nature of sustainability, such as climate change. This is particularly meaningful given the rise of specific emotions associated with sustainability issues. How might these emotions (e.g., eco-anxiety) differ from emotions that are unrelated to sustainability issues (e.g., anxiety in general)? Whereas anxiety is usually associated with adverse or pathological psychological conditions, this may not necessarily hold for eco-anxiety and other discrete emotions pertaining to sustainability. This Research Topic is interested in how individual discrete emotions are developed and their downstream influence on sustainability behaviors and decision-making. We seek papers studying these intersections using a variety of methodologies, such has experimental, field, and/or survey designs.

The role of emotions in behaviors, choices, and decisions is vast, but there has been much less focus on the role of discrete emotions in environmental behaviors, choices, and decisions that pertain specifically to sustainability (e.g., eco-anxiety vs. anxiety in general). The goal of this Research Topic is to expand theoretical understanding of how specific emotions are generated and what role they play in driving people to “go green”. This is also significant given that certain emotions arise from sustainability issues and impact not only sustainable behaviors but also individual well-being, and also that discrete emotions can have differential antecedents and consequences from more general emotions. Such understanding will add to an understanding of how emotions influence psychology more generally but also provide insights for environmental and policy advocates to incorporate (or even induce) emotions into their communications and appeals. This examination will also contribute to emotion science by providing concrete evidence on how these emotions are unique from typical emotions, thus shedding light on how a particular context may further influence the nature of emotions.

We seek papers examining how discrete emotions develop and ultimately influence environmental decision-making. More specifically, we are open to papers that examine how emotions arising from sustainability issues might be different or similar to emotions that arise in general situations. For individuals, what leads to “eco-anxiety” and other emotions? What generational differences exist in the experience of emotions related to sustainability? How do emotions influence the decision to choose “green” products and other pro-environmental behaviors? What are the downstream emotions experienced following environmentally friendly or unfriendly behaviors? Also of interest is the interplay between various emotions and feelings of agency, personal responsibility, and long-term orientations. How does the politicization of climate change influence consumer emotions and what insight does that provide into emotion science? Additionally, how might emotions account for or influence the attitude – behavior gap with individuals’ reported environmental intentions. We seek Original Research, Systematic Review, and Review articles pertaining to the specified scope.

Keywords: emotions, environmental psychology, sustainability, decision-making, marketing

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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