From concern to action: the role of psychological distance in attitude towards environmental issues

Environmental issues are major global risks that call for urgent pro-environmental actions. The current literature suggested that many perceive environmental issues as psychologically distant. This perception is considered as one important psychological barrier that limits the public from adopting sustainable pro-environmental actions. The perception of environmental issues has ignited discussion of Construal Level Theory (CLT) as a theoretical framework to understand how perceived psychological distance influences attitude towards environmental protection. Our review suggested that the public may perceive environmental issues as psychologically distant on both social and spatial dimensions. We proposed that optimism bias might be one of the reasons for this. Our review highlighted the important role of psychological proximity in arousing concerns and eliciting positive attitudes toward the efforts of addressing existing environmental issues. Inducing a proximal psychological distance may elicit stronger positive attitudes towards pro-environmental behavior intention. We discussed moderators including efficacy of policy and social pressure that elucidate the role of psychological distance on attitude. Skepticism may cause one to perceive environmental issues as psychologically distant, reducing support for environmental policies. We recommended CLT as a useful theoretical framework to improve current methods on motivating and promoting actual pro-environmental behavior. We proposed that narratives of personal experiences and objective scientific reports could complement each other in communicating environmental risks. Many are often not keenly aware of environmental issues. For this reason, using a variety of approaches and tools to proximise environmental issues is important and beneficial in raising environmental concerns and promoting sustainable actions.