Grounded by Mother Nature’s Revenge
Anthropomorphizing Nature in the Context of COVID-19 Increases Support for Restricting Leisure Air Travel Mediated by Environmental Guilt
Abstract
Abstract. Leisure air travel is a popular form of tourism, but its emissions are a major contributor to anthropogenic climate change. Restrictions to leisure air travel have previously received little support; however, the same restrictions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have been popular. This support is unlikely to persist in a postpandemic world, highlighting the need for alternative ways to improve support for reducing leisure air travel. Anthropomorphism of nature has consistently predicted proenvironmental behavior, which has been mediated by guilt felt for harm to the environment. This research is the first empirical study to explore this relationship in the context of COVID-19, where it examined support for restricting leisure air travel to help mitigate (1) COVID-19 and (2) climate change. In an experimental online study, Australian residents (N = 325, Mage = 54.48, SDage = 14.63, 62% women) were recruited through social media. Anthropomorphism of nature in the context of COVID-19 (AMP-19) was manipulated through exposure to a news article. Participants then completed measures of environmental guilt and support for restricting leisure air travel to mitigate COVID-19 (LAT-19) and to mitigate climate change (LAT-CC). A significant indirect effect was observed in both models, such that AMP-19 predicted environmental guilt which in turn predicted LAT-19 (f2 = .26; BCI [0.66, 3.87]) and LAT-CC (f2 = .45; BCI [0.84, 5.06]). The results imply that anthropomorphism of nature in the context of COVID-19 can improve attitudes toward this proenvironmental behavior, with greater support when this was to mitigate climate change. Implications are discussed.
References
2014). Helping fellow beings: Anthropomorphized social causes and the role of anticipatory guilt. Psychological Science, 25(1), 224–229. 10.1177/0956797613496823
(1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
(2007). Twenty years after Hines, Hungerford, and Tomera: A new meta-analysis of psycho-social determinants of pro-environmental behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27(1), 14–25. 10.1016/j.jenvp.2006.12.002
(2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: An opportunity for terrorist groups? Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, 12(3), 7–12. 10.1080/18335330.2020.1828603
(1994). Guilt: An interpersonal approach. Psychological Bulletin, 115(2), 243–267. 10.1037/0033-2909.115.2.243
(2007). How emotion shapes behavior: Feedback, anticipation, and reflection, rather than direct causation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(2), 167–203. 10.1177/1088868307301033
(2022). Be good to your mother (Earth): The relationship between anthropomorphising nature, financial insecurity, and support for pro-environmental policies in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 3(1), 100039. 10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100039
(2015). Emission reduction targets for international aviation and shipping, study for the ENVI committee. European Union.
(2013). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Academic Press.
(1975). Thought and talk. In S. D. Guttenplan (Ed.), Mind and language (pp. 7–23). Clarendon Press.
(2015). Using the theory of planned behavior to identify key beliefs underlying pro-environmental behavior in high-school students: Implications for educational interventions. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42(1), 128–138. 10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.03.005
(1998). Guilty by association: When one’s group has a negative history. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(4), 872–886. 10.1037/0022-3514.75.4.872
(1988). From appraisal to emotion: Differences among unpleasant feelings. Motivation and Emotion, 12(3), 271–302. https://repository.law.umich.edu/articles/1669
(2007). On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism. Psychological Review, 114(4), 864–886. 10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.864
(2011). The effect of intergroup comparison on willingness to perform sustainable behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 31(4), 275–281. 10.1016/j.jenvp.2011.04.001
(1986). The development of children’s knowledge about the appearance–reality distinction. American Psychologist, 41(4), 418–425. 10.1037/0003-066X.41.4.418
(2013). Environmental trends in aviation to 2050. In ICAO Environment Branch (Ed.), Environmental report 2013: Aviation and climate change (pp. 22–27). ICAO. https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Documents/EnvironmentalReports/2019/ENVReport2019_pg17-23.pdf#search=Environmental%20trends%20in%20aviation%20to%202050
(2009). Carbon neutral destinations: A conceptual analysis. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 17(1), 17–37. 10.1080/09669580802276018
(2007). “It does not harm the environment!” An analysis of industry discourses on tourism, air travel and the environment. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 15(4), 402–417. 10.2167/jost672.0
(2010). I won’t let you down… or will I? Core self-evaluations, other-orientation, anticipated guilt and gratitude, and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 108–121. 10.1037/a0017974
(1995). Faces in the clouds: A new theory of religion. Oxford University Press.
(2020, December 3). Humanity is waging war on nature, says UN secretary general. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/humanity-is-waging-war-on-nature-says-un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres
(2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Publications.
(2014). Climate change, discretionary air travel, and the “flyers’ dilemma”. Journal of Travel Research, 53(4), 462–475. 10.1177/0047287513500393
(2016). Climate change, tourist air travel and radical emissions reduction. Journal of Cleaner Production, 111(1), 336–347. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.10.100
(2018). Global warming of 1.5 °C: an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
(2014). The attitude–behaviour gap in sustainable tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 48(1), 76–95. 10.1016/j.annals.2014.05.012
(1999). Responsibility as a predictor of ecological behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19(3), 243–253. 10.1006/jevp.1998.9123
(2021). Public support for air travel restrictions to address COVID-19 or climate change. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 93(1), 102767. 10.1016/j.trd.2021.102767
(2018). Public attitudes about climate policy options for aviation. Environmental Science & Policy, 81(1), 46–53. 10.1016/j.envsci.2017.12.012
(1992). The new anthropomorphism. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511623455
(2017). MedPower: An interactive tool for the estimation of power in tests of mediation. https://davidakenny.shinyapps.io/MedPower/
(2020). Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement. Nature Climate Change, 10(7), Article 7. 10.1038/s41558-020-0797-x
(2021). The contribution of global aviation to anthropogenic climate forcing for 2000 to 2018. Atmospheric Environment, 244(1), 117834. 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117834
(2019). “Mother Nature” enhances connectedness to nature and pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 61(1), 37–45. 10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.12.003
(2009). International aviation emissions to 2025: Can emissions be stabilised without restricting demand? Energy Policy, 37(1), 264–273. 10.1016/j.enpol.2008.08.029
(2000). Equivalence of the mediation, confounding and suppression effect. Prevention Science: The Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research, 1(4), 173–181. 10.1023/A:1026595011371
(2012). Eco-guilt motivates eco-friendly behavior. Ecopsychology, 4(3), 223–231. 10.1089/eco.2012.0031
(2019). Unstoppable climate change? The influence of fatalistic beliefs about climate change on behavioural change and willingness to pay cross-nationally. Climate Policy, 19(4), 511–523. 10.1080/14693062.2018.1532872
(2016). Developing policy integrating sustainability: A case study into aviation. Environmental Science & Policy, 57(1), 86–92. 10.1016/j.envsci.2015.11.016
(2010). Flying into the future: Aviation emissions scenarios to 2050. Environmental Science & Technology, 44(7), 2255–2260. 10.1021/es902530z
(2004). Emotion in social relations: Cultural, group, and interpersonal processes. Psychology Press. 10.4324/9780203644966
(2010). Tourism travel under climate change mitigation constraints. Journal of Transport Geography, 18(3), 447–457. 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2009.09.003
(2022). Grounded by Mother Nature’s Revenge: Anthropomorphising nature in the context of COVID-19 increases support for restricting leisure air travel mediated by environmental guilt. 10.17605/OSF.IO/ZVNFX
(2022). Anthropomorphising nature in times of crisis: A serial mediation model from connectedness to nature via anthropomorphism on support for COVID-19 travel restrictions. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 3(1), 100024. 10.1016/j.cresp.2021.100024
(1927). The child’s conception of the world. Brace Jovanovich.
(2020). Climate of the Nation 2020: Tracking Australia’s attitudes towards climate change and energy (p. 21). The Australia Institute.
(2020, March 27). People are dunking on eco-fascist who think “We are the virus and coronavirus is the cure. Junkee. https://junkee.com/we-are-the-virus-meme/248819
(2013). When Mother Earth rises up: Anthropomorphizing nature reduces support for natural disaster victims. Social Psychology, 44(4), 271–277. 10.1027/1864-9335/a000112
(2018). The theory of dyadic morality: Reinventing moral judgment by redefining harm. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 22(1), 32–70. 10.1177/1088868317698288
(2016). A report on the Paris Climate Change Agreement and its implications for tourism: Why we will always have Paris. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(7), 933–948. 10.1080/09669582.2016.1187623
(2022). Pride and guilt predict pro-environmental behavior: A meta-analysis of correlational and experimental evidence. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 79(1), 101753. 10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101753
(2018). Aviation CO2 emissions reductions from the use of alternative jet fuels. Energy Policy, 114(1), 342–354. 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.12.007
(2013). “Everyone will die anyway”: Managing the cultural bias towards fatalistic thinking about global climate change in the Thai context. Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(1), 5–17. https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1523388080727533696
(2013). Dispositional empathy with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 35(3), 92–104. 10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.05.004
(2014). Anthropomorphism of nature and efficacy in coping with the environmental crisis. Social Cognition, 32(3), 276–296. 10.1521/soco.2014.32.3.276
(2015). Are anthropomorphic persuasive appeals effective? The role of the recipient’s motivations. British Journal of Social Psychology, 54(1), 187–200. 10.1111/bjso.12076
(2019). Anthropomorphism of nature, environmental guilt, and pro-environmental behavior. Sustainability, 11(19), Article 5430. 10.3390/su11195430
(2013). Saving Mr. Nature: Anthropomorphism enhances connectedness to and protectiveness toward nature. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(3), 514–521. 10.1016/j.jesp.2013.02.001
(1991). Anthropomorphism and teleology in reasoning about biological phenomena. Science Education, 75(1), 57–67. 10.1002/sce.3730750106
(2020, October 6). How the Covid-19 crisis is expected to impact the aerospace industry. Roland Berger. https://www.rolandberger.com/en/Insights/Publications/How-the-Covid-19-crisis-is-expected-to-impact-the-aerospace-industry.html
(2020, March 20). Nature’s revenge: Climate change and COVID-19. CounterPunch.Org. https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/03/20/natures-revenge-climate-change-and-covid-19/
(2019). Animals are friends, not food”: Anthropomorphism leads to less favorable attitudes toward meat consumption by inducing feelings of anticipatory guilt. Appetite, 138(1), 153–173. 10.1016/j.appet.2019.03.019
(2020, December 1). Duke of Sussex suggests coronavirus was rebuke from mother nature. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/01/duke-sussex-suggests-coronavirus-rebuke-mother-nature/
(2020, April 22). Is the coronavirus pandemic Mother Nature’s revenge? The Boston Globe. Boston Globe.Com. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/22/magazine/is-coronavirus-pandemic-mother-natures-revenge/
(2015). Revisiting the effect of anthropomorphizing a social cause campaign. PLoS ONE, 10(9), e0138886. 10.1371/journal.pone.0138886
(2021). The association between anthropomorphism of nature and pro-environmental variables: A systematic review. Biological Conservation, 255(1), 109022. 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109022
(2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197–206. 10.1086/651257
(