As climate change continues to escalate, understanding how psychological factors like climate optimism, environmental concern, and pro-environmental behavior interact is essential. Climate optimism—the belief that climate change can be addressed—has been linked to greater motivation to take environmental action, while deep environmental concern may come with increased emotional burden (Morris et al., 2020). Individuals who feel more connected to nature often report heightened anxiety or despair, especially when climate messaging emphasizes threat over hope (MacKinnon et al., 2022). This study examines the relationship between hopefulness about solving climate change and care for the environment.


A total of 400 individuals participated in an online survey where they provided demographic information and information on their hopefulness about climate change being solved and their sense of care towards the environment.


A Spearman's correlation was conducted to evaluate the relationship between optimism about solving climate change and care towards the environment. There was a significant negative relationship between these variables, rs(398) = -.13, p = .009. This result indicates that individuals who feel more connected to the environment tend to feel less hopeful about solving climate change.


The negative correlation between climate optimism and environmental care may reflect how increased awareness of environmental decline can reduce hopefulness about climate solutions. Those who care deeply about the environment may be more exposed to pessimistic messaging or overwhelming information, which can heighten distress and lower perceived efficacy (Morris et al., 2020). At the same time, research shows that hopeful framing can boost both optimism and pro-environmental behavior, even in small interventions (MacKinnon et al., 2022). These results suggest that even environmentally engaged individuals may need support to stay hopeful.