Abstract

The temporal precedence of the association between climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior has not yet been established. This study examines reciprocal relations between the two variables while controlling for personal values to rule out potential third-variable explanations. Based on theorizing on the functionality of anxiety and self-perception theory, it was hypothesized that climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior positively predict each other. Building on value-belief-norm theory and related empirical work, it was further expected that biospheric and altruistic values positively predict both climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior. Two-wave panel data across 6 months were collected from N = 1,355 individuals in Germany. Results showed that climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior positively, albeit weakly, predicted each other across a 6-month interval, while controlling for personal values. Biospheric, but not altruistic, values positively predicted pro-environmental behavior, and neither biospheric nor altruistic values significantly predicted climate change anxiety.