Desespero e perceção das alterações climáticas

: preditores dos comportamentos pró-ambientais

Abstract

Our planet and our health are intrinsically interconnected, that is, the air we breathe, the food we eat, the resources we consume for our livelihood are factors that determine our quality of life (Watts et al., 2017), existing currently a strong scientific consensus regarding the fact that climate change is occurring (Sanson et al., 2019; Tam et al., 2021). The present study aims to evaluate the role of the perception of climate change, despair in the face of it and pro­environmental behaviors, understanding how these three components interrelate resorting to the validation of the respective instruments (Climate Change Perception Scale; Climate Change Despair Scale; Pro­Environmental Behavior Scale). The relevance of this study lies in the fact that we can eventually identify a profile of participants whose proenvironmental behaviors allow an efficient transition to sustainability (Sanson et al., 2019; WMO, 2020). Good adjustment models were found in the three instruments used, with the Portuguese versions maintaining the structure proposed by the authors of the original versions, with the exception of the Pro­Environmental Behavior Scale. Statistically significant differences were found in these instruments according with some sociodemographic variables (age, gender, marital status, having or not having children and number of years of schooling), as well as with political ideology. It is hoped that this investigation can be a starting point for future studies to assess the complexity that the role of psychology has in the environment and in the mitigation of climate change.

Date of Award	18 Jan 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ângela Leite (Supervisor)