The psychology of collective climate action: Building climate courage
Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge (2025), xxv, 218 pp.
"How do we find the courage to act together against the climate crisis? This book weaves together real-life findings and examples from the social-ecological movement with psychological research to show how motivation for collective climate action can be built. The book addresses two key questions: how can individuals be motivated to participate in collective climate action, and how can climate groups become resilient and effective? Specifically, it explores how individuals can foster their identification with climate action groups, as well as strengthening their feeling to be effective - both as a group and as part of a group. It touches a wide range of topics, covering emotions of anger, moral considerations, activist burnout and the perception of protests, as well as general theories of socio-ecological change. This book is for everyone who seeks the courage to act together and is curious about psychological insights." (Publisher description)
1 Overview of the psychological model, 1
PART 1: MOTIVATING FOR COLLECTIVE CLIMATE ACTION
2 Social identification, 11
3 Moral beliefs and emotions, 53
4 Framing climate action, 94
5 Efficacy beliefs, 102
6 Psychological effects of collective climate action, 136
7 Summary of the model, 144
PART 2: CULTIVATING RESILIENT AND EFFECTIVE COLLECTIVE CLIMATE ACTION
8 Resilient collective action and activist burnout, 149
9 Socio-ecological transformation, 174
10 Effective goals for climate groups, 197
11 Conclusion, recommendations, and further ideas, 209
Appendix: Overview of research designs, 213
PART 1: MOTIVATING FOR COLLECTIVE CLIMATE ACTION
2 Social identification, 11
3 Moral beliefs and emotions, 53
4 Framing climate action, 94
5 Efficacy beliefs, 102
6 Psychological effects of collective climate action, 136
7 Summary of the model, 144
PART 2: CULTIVATING RESILIENT AND EFFECTIVE COLLECTIVE CLIMATE ACTION
8 Resilient collective action and activist burnout, 149
9 Socio-ecological transformation, 174
10 Effective goals for climate groups, 197
11 Conclusion, recommendations, and further ideas, 209
Appendix: Overview of research designs, 213