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

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.