Climate change is one of the significant challenges facing modern society. Many studies have often examined its psychological effects in the context of anxiety (Ogunbode et al, 2023). More recently, studies have emphasized the influence of climate change on human cognition, especially attention. Climate change-related stimuli are considered emotionally salient and may capture attention (Carlson et al., 2019). However, little is known about how these stimuli compare with other emotional stimuli, particularly those that elicit fear. Most existing studies have contrasted climate change-relevant images with neutral or irrelevant ones (Carlson et al., 2020, 2022); however, the relative attentional priority of these images remains unclear.
To address this gap, the present study investigates attentional biases toward climate change-related stimuli by comparing their attentional priority with modern (e.g., guns, knives) and biological (e.g., snakes, dangerous animals) threats. Using an experimental design based on the dot-probe paradigm, we will investigate whether climate change stimuli capture attention to the same extent as traditional fear-related cues. Furthermore, we will examine the effects of individual differences, such as disposition to connect with nature and state-trait anxiety, on attentional processes. The study is planned to include at least 75 university students, based on power analysis.
This study is expected to provide valuable insights for understanding attentional responses to climate change-related threats.