Examining the Relationship between the Dimensions of the Climate-Change Competence (C3): Testing for Mediation and Moderation

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the positive relationship between different dimensions (knowledge, attitudes, and ability) of the Climate-Change Competence in the participants of a Massive Open Online Course called “Awareness and Training on Climate Change for Primary and Secondary Teachers”. This study describes the use of this competence to introduce Climate Change into formal education and provides an example of how it can be used to design educational interventions to mobilize the students through education. We carried out a correlational research design based on mediation and moderation models using a process macro for questionnaires about the Climate-Change Competence. In this study, we used a sample of 530 people from Spain and Latin America (52% female, mean age = 36.1 years). The findings revealed that knowledge about Climate Change is a good predictor of ability and attitude. Furthermore, we predicted that the relationship between knowledge and ability would be mediated by attitude. Likewise, we hypothesized that attitude is a moderating dimension between knowledge and ability. The results supported our prediction and showed that attitude is a strong mediator in the relationship between knowledge and ability. However, the interaction between knowledge and attitude did not improve the ability to cope with Climate Change. The Climate-Change Competence is an efficient tool to introduce Climate Change into formal education. It can also be used to investigate, for the first time, the relationship between knowledge, ability, and attitude, which is essential to transform education into a necessary tool for mitigation and adaptation.