Graduation Year
2026
Document Type
Senior Thesis
Degree
Bachelor of Arts
Primary Major
Psychology
Second Major
English / Creative Writing
Thesis Advisor
Veronica Fruiht, PhD
Abstract
Eco-anxiety is fear and disorientation about climate change (Budziszewska & Jonsson, 2022) and is related to nature connection and pro-environmental behaviors (PEB; Curll et al., 2022; Jalin et al., 2024). Poetry therapy has aided a patient in developing new perspectives for coping with their eco-anxiety (Raile, 2024), but there is no research on the effects of eco-poetry on eco-anxiety. In the present study, participants read eco-poetry and reported their eco-anxiety, connectedness, and emotions relating to nature. I hypothesize that an optimistic eco-poem will lower eco-anxiety and increase nature connection, and the more participants engage in eco-poetry, the higher their eco-anxiety and nature connection will be. Participants in this study consisted of 62 adults. Participants were randomly assigned to read an optimistic or pessimistic eco-poem, then complete a survey consisting of the Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (Hogg et al., 2021) and the ABC Connectedness to Nature Scale (Cuadrado et al., 2023), as well as how frequently they engage with eco-poetry, their emotions when engaging with eco-poetry and motivation for engaging in PEB. This study showed no difference in participant’s eco-anxiety and nature connection levels between the assigned eco-poem. However, qualitative data showed that the optimistic eco-poem evoked more positive emotions and cognitions, while the pessimistic eco-poem provoked negative emotions and cognitions. Additionally, participants who engage more often with eco-poetry have higher eco-anxiety and nature connectedness. This study supports previous literature suggesting that nature connection and eco-anxiety are related to PEB, and further contributes to the field that eco-poetry may be a tool for managing eco-anxiety and promoting nature connection and PEB.