The influence of climate crisis-related media reporting on the eco-anxiety of individuals

Leonie Loll; Natalja Schmatz; Lisa von Lonski; Luca Dieter Cremer; Melina Helga Richter

doi:10.29333/ijese/13044

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Leonie Loll ¹ ^* , Natalja Schmatz ¹ , Lisa von Lonski ¹ , Luca Dieter Cremer ¹ , Melina Helga Richter ¹

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¹ Faculty of Communication and Environment, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Kamp-Lintfort, GERMANY^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Climate change is a critical issue that strongly affects the mental state of many people and often manifests itself as so-called eco-anxiety. Eco-anxiety is mainly evoked by media reporting, as they are the main source of information about climate change. In this study, the aim was to investigate whether there is a difference in the impact of three different media types (video, radio, and newspaper) on an individual’s eco-anxiety level. By conducting a diary study in which participants received climate change-related media input at fixed intervals, the following key findings can be reported: There is a difference between eco-anxiety before and after the media intervention. The video intervention is shown to affect its participants' eco-anxiety. The other media interventions showed no effect. A correlation with neuroticism could be identified, as there is a significant influence on the pre-media intervention level of eco-anxiety and on the overall change in eco-anxiety.

Keywords

eco-anxiety
climate change
media effectiveness
media reporting
neuroticism

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED, Volume 19, Issue 2, 2023, Article No: e2306

https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/13044

Publication date: 01 Apr 2023

Online publication date: 07 Mar 2023

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APA

Loll, L., Schmatz, N., von Lonski, L., Cremer, L. D., & Richter, M. H. (2023). The influence of climate crisis-related media reporting on the eco-anxiety of individuals. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 19(2), e2306. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/13044

Vancouver

Loll L, Schmatz N, von Lonski L, Cremer LD, Richter MH. The influence of climate crisis-related media reporting on the eco-anxiety of individuals. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2023;19(2):e2306. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/13044

AMA

Loll L, Schmatz N, von Lonski L, Cremer LD, Richter MH. The influence of climate crisis-related media reporting on the eco-anxiety of individuals. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2023;19(2), e2306. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/13044

Chicago

Loll, Leonie, Natalja Schmatz, Lisa von Lonski, Luca Dieter Cremer, and Melina Helga Richter. "The influence of climate crisis-related media reporting on the eco-anxiety of individuals". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education 2023 19 no. 2 (2023): e2306. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/13044

Harvard

Loll, L., Schmatz, N., von Lonski, L., Cremer, L. D., and Richter, M. H. (2023). The influence of climate crisis-related media reporting on the eco-anxiety of individuals. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 19(2), e2306. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/13044

MLA

Loll, Leonie et al. "The influence of climate crisis-related media reporting on the eco-anxiety of individuals". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, vol. 19, no. 2, 2023, e2306. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/13044