How Do Religions and Religiosity Matter for Climate Anxiety?

During the last decade, the discussions about climate change have evolved beyond technical and technological debates, and politicians and religious leaders have started to acknowledge the complexity of the matter more frequently than ever. Since then, the need for holistic approaches encompassing social, political, and cultural dimensions alongside technological advancements has become more visible in climate change-related discussions. This necessity is mainly based on the fact that the offered technical solutions are bound to social and psychological barriers and are evaluated through the lenses of existing culture, values, and beliefs, which can hinder appropriate responses. The current study aims at this gap by exploring variations in religious affiliations, religiosity levels of individuals and their interactions with climate anxiety using two current novel databases. The findings indicate that not only affiliations and religiosity levels are robust predictors of climate anxiety, but also their interactions with news consumption patterns, ideological positions, religious effectively explain the variations in perceptions related to climate anxiety.