Introduction:
Climate change is a universal challenge, but its psychological impacts vary across cultural and socio-economic contexts. In rapidly urbanizing India, young people face climate stressors alongside a constant flow of information through digital media. This dual exposure heightens eco-fatigue: a state of exhaustion and disengagement- yet also positions youth as pivotal actors in sustainability transitions. While eco-anxiety has been widely examined in Western contexts, little is known about eco-fatigue in the Global South or how it can be redirected into eco-agency, defined as proactive environmental engagement.
Purpose:
The study investigates whether eco-fatigue can be reframed as eco-agency through the mediating roles of psychological ownership and collective efficacy, while also considering how contextual factors such as collectivist cultural values, and social support may strengthen or weaken this transformation.
Method:
A mixed-method design will be employed. In Phase 1, a cross-sectional survey of 400 university students and early-career professionals in metropolitan India will measure eco-fatigue, ownership, efficacy, and pro-environmental behaviour. Structural equation modelling will test hypothesized pathways. In Phase 2, narrative interviews and focus groups, guided by a phenomenological framework, will explore how youth experience fatigue, make meaning of overload, and identify turning points where concern shifts into action. Thematic analysis will integrate qualitative insights with survey findings, emphasizing cultural dynamics of resilience and agency.
Results:
Eco-fatigue alone is expected to reduce sustainable behaviour, but when mediated by ownership and efficacy and supported by cultural and institutional resources it is anticipated to foster eco-agency.
Conclusions:
By combining quantitative modelling with qualitative meaning-making, the study situates eco-fatigue as a dynamic, culturally contingent condition. Findings will guide youth-focused policies, campus interventions, and community programs that transform climate overload into resilience, responsibility, and collective action.