Pandemic in the Context of on Environmental Consciousness

Abstract

The article is directly related to the subject of common interest — COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly impacts the entire world community. In the paper, we consider the spread of coronavirus infection as one of the consequences of active use of the natural environment and its resources by humans. Psychologically, the current ecological crisis stems from the regularities of the human consciousness formation. The present study empirically examines the impact of the COVID-19 hazard estimation on the nature-human interaction assessment. The study involved 372 participants (42% men and 58% women), the mean age of the subjects was 33.9 years (SD = 11.4 years). The data obtained shows that the perception of COVID-19 as a serious disease is associated with the apprehension of nature as adverse for humans, fear of natural forces (F = 12.307; p < 0.001), — perceptions characterizing the archaic type of environmental consciousness. At the same time, younger people assess the negative impact of nature on humans significantly lower than the older respondents (chi-square = 14.041; p < 0.001), and at the same time, recognizing the danger of the coronavirus, they are concerned about the natural environment preservation, demonstrating an ecocentric type of environmental consciousness.