ABSTRACT

Today’s children comprise the generation that will need to deal with the severe consequences of climate change in the future. Hence, as stimulating children to grow up as environmentally conscious kids is crucial, this study examines how victim framing can affect children’s intentions to adopt pro-environmental behaviors. Specifically, it examines how a focus on negative consequences of climate change for animals versus landscapes stimulates children’s pro-environmental behavioral intent and whether attributed responsibility for climate change moderates these effects. A 2 (focus on loss of animals versus landscapes) x 2 (internal versus external attribution of responsibility) between-subjects factorial design was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that a message focusing on the loss of animals (vs. landscapes) led to higher empathy, which resulted in stronger anticipatory guilt, which in turn stimulated pro-environmental behavioral intent. Further, the results show that a victim frame focusing on the loss of animals (vs. landscapes) led to higher levels of climate-message avoidance and lower behavioral intent when the responsibility for climate change was attributed to an external (vs. internal) cause. This study offers valuable insights into the underlying motivations of children to behave in an environmentally friendly way.

摘要

今天的儿童是未来需要应对气候变化严重后果的一代人。因此，由于刺激儿童成长为具有环保意识的儿童至关重要，因此本研究探讨了受害者框架如何影响儿童采取亲环境行为的意愿。具体来说，它研究了关注气候变化对动物与景观的负面影响如何激发儿童的亲环境行为意图，以及气候变化的归因责任是否会缓和这些影响。使用 2（关注动物与景观的损失）x 2（内部与外部责任归因）之间的因子设计来测试假设。结果表明，关注动物（与景观）损失的信息会导致更高的同理心，这导致了更强的预期内疚，这反过来又刺激了亲环境的行为意图。此外，结果表明，当气候变化的责任归因于外部（与内部）原因时，专注于动物（与景观）损失的受害者框架会导致更高水平的气候信息回避和更低的行为意图. 这项研究为了解儿童以环保方式行事的潜在动机提供了宝贵的见解。当气候变化的责任归因于外部（相对于内部）原因时，景观）导致更高水平的气候信息回避和更低的行为意图。这项研究为了解儿童以环保方式行事的潜在动机提供了宝贵的见解。当气候变化的责任归因于外部（相对于内部）原因时，景观）导致更高水平的气候信息回避和更低的行为意图。这项研究为了解儿童以环保方式行事的潜在动机提供了宝贵的见解。