Five Roles for Psychologists in Addressing Climate Change, and How They Are Informed by Responses to the COVID-19 Outbreak
Abstract
Abstract. This paper discusses five areas where psychologists have roles in helping to address climate change, its effects on the planet and human beings, these five areas are as follows: (1) Changing human behaviors that are causing climate change. (2) Increasing human connection with nature in positive ways to heal both the planet and human beings. (3) Advising and assisting on leadership for good governance to protect the planet. (4) Providing support and psychological interventions for those affected by climate change. (5) Preparing for bad outcomes and helping adaptation and survival should these occur. This paper considers the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and how responses to it give insights for responses to climate change.
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Whomsley proposes five areas where psychologists have roles in helping to address climate change and its effects: changing human behaviours causing climate change; increasing human connection with nature; advising on leadership for good governance; providing support and psychological interventions for those affected; preparing for bad outcomes and helping adaptation and survival.
“Whomsley [43] proposes five areas where psychologists have roles in helping to address climate change and its effects on the planet and human beings: (1) changing human behaviours that are causing climate change; (2) increasing human connection with nature in positive ways to heal both the planet and human beings; (3) advising and assisting on leadership for good governance to protect the planet;”
From Climate Distress: A Review of Current Psychological Research and Practice (2023) · cites this paper as [43]
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Climate Distress: A Review of Current Psychological Research and Practice
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“Psychologists need to forge coalitions across differences by witnessing the profound psychological consequences of the climate crisis, creating public pressure and working with business and governments to steer action (Whomsley, 2021).”
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“Consequently, climate change researchers and psychologists have called on school systems to address this topic appropriately (e.g. Whomsley 2021).”
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“As the analogy and mutual impacts between COVID-19 and climate change are increasingly recognized (Klenert et al. 2020; Manzanedo and Manning 2020; Whomsley 2021), it is unclear how fear of COVID-19 relates to responses to other issues such as climate change.”
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- Authors
- Whomsley, S. R. C.
- Affiliations
- St Mary's Hospital (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Whomsley, Stuart R. C.
- Venue
- European Psychologist
- Publisher
- Hogrefe Publishing Group
- Published
- 2021-07
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 241-248
- ISSN
- 1016-9040 (ISSN-L)
- 1878-531X
- OpenAlex
- W3178267537
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 3.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Sustainable Development
- Keywords
- climate change, psychologist role, behavior change, human-nature connection, good governance, psychological intervention, climate change adaptation, COVID-19 pandemic
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