Anthropogenic climate change, with its extensive effects across physical, economic, and social domains, poses a significant threat to well-being and social stability. This climate crisis intersects with other global challenges, such as the Great Recession, which exacerbated economic inequality, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which intensified disparities among vulnerable populations. Collectively, these crises have wide-ranging impacts on financial, health, and socio-political spheres.

Perceived threats from climate, economic, and health crises are key drivers of their psychosocial impact. Research indicates that heightened perceptions of these threats are associated with decreased well-being and changes in social behavior. While often negative, some studies suggest that such threats can also elicit adaptive, prosocial responses. However, the mechanisms underlying these effects, and the ways in which different types of threats interact to influence well-being and social behavior, remain insufficiently understood, underscoring the need for further investigation.

This Research Topic aims to advance the understanding of key psychological types of threat in contexts of instability, specifically climate, economic, and health threats, and their impact on well-being and social behavior. In addition to employing psychometrically sound measures, it is crucial to expand the associations between these threats and other relevant external criteria. Another objective is to elucidate the mediating and moderating variables that shape the relationship between perceived threats and psychosocial outcomes. By examining both negative consequences and potential adaptive responses, this Research Topic aims to offer a more nuanced understanding of these threats. Furthermore, given that subjective experiences of threat may be interrelated, this Topic would particularly benefit from studies that explore how these threats interact and jointly influence well-being and social behavior.

Although the various crisis contexts experienced in recent years have substantially increased interest in the empirical analysis of the psychological experience of climate, economic, and health threats, further research is required to more comprehensively characterize these types of threats. Empirical studies, systematic reviews, and/or meta-analyses are welcome, as long as they contribute to advancing the understanding of the following aspects:

• Assessment of climate, economic, and health threats.
• Interrelations between different types of threats and their impact on well-being and social behavior.
• The network of relationships between these forms of threats and other theoretically relevant variables.
• Adaptive role of climate, economic, and health threats.
• Mediating/moderating mechanisms in the psychosocial effects of these personal experiences of threat.
• Differentiation of these types of threats in their associations with other variables.

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Frontiers in Psychology

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