“How will our children cope?”: Understanding Fear and Hope About Climate Change Through Qualitative Approaches

Future-oriented emotional appeals, such as fear or hope, may be more effective inincreasing climate action when they reflect the specific fears and hopes of the targetpopulation. However, qualitative evidence on what people find uniquely fearful anduniquely hopeful about climate change remains limited. To address this gap, an onlinequalitative survey asked 299 Australians (Mage = 33.09, SDage = 12.14) to identifywhat they found fearful and hopeful about climate change. Through inductive thematicanalysis, three themes reflected Australians’ fear: (1) ‘Change and Instability’, (2)‘Inaction and Negligence by Government, Large Corporations, and Others’, and (3)‘Intergenerational Impacts and Legacy’. Additionally, three themes reflectedAustralians’ hope: (1) ‘Changing Attitudes and Changing Pro-environmental Habits’, (2)‘Progress, Technology, Sustainability, and Innovation’, and (3) ‘An Opportunity forChange’. While some elements of what Australians find fearful or hopeful may beunique (e.g., bushfires), others (e.g., intergenerational impacts) align with globalconcerns. These insights offer valuable guidance for designing interventions that aimto foster fear and hope to promote climate action.