November 2025 - New Publication in Communications Psychology: Psychological Interventions That Increase Effort for Climate Action

Understanding the Effort Behind Climate Action

Climate change demands concrete action, yet many people struggle to translate their concern into behavior. The newly published article in Communications Psychology (Nature) addresses this challenge by testing whether specific psychological messages can motivate individuals to make real physical effort in support of environmental causes.

The study analyzed data from more than 3,000 participants across six countries, who completed an effort-based decision-making task. In each trial, participants chose between resting (yielding a small donation) or exerting physical effort (resulting in a larger donation). The central question: which psychological interventions increase people’s motivation to work harder specifically for a climate cause?

Findings show that certain interventions — particularly those that reduce psychological distance, challenge system justification, or evoke strong emotional reactions — successfully eliminated the initial motivational disadvantage that climate causes often face compared to immediate humanitarian causes. Computational modeling further revealed that these interventions reduced the “effort discounting” associated with climate action, making the effort feel less costly and more worthwhile.

This research, with contributions from Dr. Sebastián Contreras-Huerta, advances our understanding of the motivational mechanisms that transform climate concern into meaningful action, offering insights with clear implications for climate communication and public policy.

Read the full paper here

Blog reviews by Fiorella Macchiavelo (ESDLab)

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Figure 1 from Cutler et al. (2025), Communications Psychology. Diagram of the Pro-Environmental Effort Task (PEET), used to assess participants’ willingness to exert physical effort for climate-related causes.