Secure human attachment can promote support for climate change mitigation

https://www.pnas.org/content/118/37/e2101046118

Attachment theory is an ethological approach to the development of durable, affective ties between humans. We propose that secure attachment is crucial for understanding climate change mitigation, because the latter is inherently a communal phenomenon resulting from joint action and requiring collective behavioral change.

Here, we show that priming attachment security increases acceptance (Study 1: n = 173) and perceived responsibility toward anthropogenic climate change (Study 2: n = 209) via increased empathy for others.

Next, we demonstrate that priming attachment security, compared to a standard National Geographic video about climate change, increases monetary donations to a proenvironmental group in politically moderate and conservative individuals (Study 3: n = 196).

Finally, through a preregistered field study conducted in the United Arab Emirates (Study 4: n = 143,558 food transactions), we show that, compared to a message related to carbon emissions, an attachment security–based message is associated with a reduction in food waste. Taken together, our work suggests that an avenue to promote climate change mitigation could be grounded in core ethological mechanisms associated with secure attachment.

Experimental manipulation.

Attachment security manipulations aim to activate a perception of threat (psychological or physical), followed by a scenario in which close protective others respond actively to reduce this threat. Attachment security priming temporarily activates a sense of attachment security, such that cognitions, emotions, and behavior become aligned with a secure attachment orientation (53). We follow the experimental procedure by Mikulincer et al. (14) that primes attachment security using recall narratives about supportive contexts and caregivers (versus a neutral context).

Attachment security condition.

“In the following section, we’d like you to think about a recent and important event in your life where you were in a problematic situation. Recall a time when you were surrounded by people who loved you, were sensitive and responsive to your distress, and protected you. As a result, you felt secure. Describe the background, the incident itself, and the consequences—the full story.”