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How fear impacts citizens’ motivation to address sustainable actions? A joint perspective of the protection motivation and terror management theories
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Orientador(es)
Resumo(s)
The world is currently grappling with numerous destabilizing events (wars, pandemics,
escalating immigration flows) that are frequently creating contemporary crisis scenarios. This
situations reshuffle citizen’s priorities and pose a threat towards the future of sustainable
practices. Therefore, shifting societal concerns need a more profound understanding of the
psychological drivers behind sustainable behaviours. To help addressing a critical gap in
existing literature, this research focuses on the emotional foundation of actions, particularly
the role of fear as a driver in shaping sustainability intentions. By employing a sample of 292
responses and utilizing a structural equation modelling, this study leverages both Protection
Motivation and Terror Management theories to examine how fear related dimensions
influence Portuguese individuals’ propensity to engage in sustainable practices. The findings
reveal that variables such as perceived susceptibility, response efficacy and self-confidence
are significant determinants of an individual’s sustainable intentions. Notably, the individuals’
self-confidence poses itself as a moderator for the effects of perceived severity, response
efficacy and self-efficacy. This underscores the crucial effect of a confident mindset in
fostering proactive behaviours, underlining the fact that individuals with a higher selfconfidence are more inclined to pursue long-term sustainable goals over short term extrinsic
rewards. Not less importantly, mortality salience significantly impacts sustainability
intentions. These results suggest the necessity for educational campaigns that are able to
highlight personal risks and the booster effect of sustainable actions in refraining them.
Effective community engagement strategies must address both fear-based and efficacy-based
motivators in order to lever the individual sense of self-esteem.
Descrição
Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence
Palavras-chave
Sustainability Behaviour intention to change Fear Appeals Protection Motivation Theory Terror Management Theory Structural Equation Modelling SDG 12 - Responsible production and consumption SDG 13 - Climate action