How climate anxiety affects our behavior
BRAIN WAVES
Hot topic. If you’re feeling anxious about climate change, how might that anxiety affect your day-to-day life? A new study explored this question by tracking the generalized anxiety and climate anxiety of more than 200 volunteers in Spain over the course of a year. Researchers measured generalized anxiety using something called the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item scale. They assessed climate anxiety by asking volunteers how anxious they felt about climate change on a scale from 0 to 10. The study found that, in most cases, climate anxiety didn’t necessarily overlap with generalized anxiety, nor did it seem to impact habits like sleep, diet, or exercise. Put simply, feeling worried about the climate is different from generalized anxiety. “Our findings suggest that interventions to induce climate anxiety in order to encourage pro-environmental behaviour may not have significantly negative health implications,” the study concluded.
Getting organ-ized. If you’re someone who has an intense fear of dying, it’s perhaps not surprising that you’d be less likely to embrace the idea of organ donation, right? In a recent study researchers assessed volunteers’ “fear of personal death” (FPD) and then looked at whether those people were registered organ donors. Overall, the study found a relationship between the two: people who were not registered reported an increased FPD when asked about their organ donation status. People who were registered organ donors did not report this increased fear. The researchers also facilitated an intervention that gave people a way to manage their fear by making them feel more hopeful about the afterlife. They found that the intervention increased a person’s willingness to sign an organ donation commitment — at least among non-religious people. “Religious people hold a unique fear of punishment in the hereafter, which may explain their reluctance to register as donors,” the study concluded. It added that “for non-religious people, the idea of a continued life after the physical death of the body increased hopefulness, which in turn increased willingness to register.”
Uncertain times. It can sometimes be exciting when we don’t know what’s coming next. Other times, the unknown can be deeply troubling. How do our minds respond to uncertainty, and what role does it play in our lives? Listen to learn more.
ON THE HIDDEN BRAIN PODCAST
How to Win People Over: Many of us spend a lot of time and effort trying to manage how others see us, only to see our efforts backfire. This week, psychologist Alison Fragale explores better ways to win friends and influence people.
ON THE MY UNSUNG HERO PODCAST
Malcolm Campbell’s Story: Malcolm Campbell honors his high school civics teacher, who inspired him to become a teacher himself.
Don’t forget to send us the story of your unsung hero! Record a voice memo on your phone and email it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
MIND GAMES
A petri dish hosts a healthy colony of bacteria. Once a minute every bacterium divides into two. The colony was founded by a single cell at noon. At exactly 12:43 (43 minutes later) the petri dish was half full. At what time will the dish be full?
LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE
What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M.
A MOMENT OF JOY
Did you catch the northern lights?
Have an idea for Hidden Brain? A story you want to share with us? Send an email to ideas@hiddenbrain.org. Listen to us on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast platform.