Experienced climate change impacts help explain subjective well-being-Evidence from 14 nature-dependent communities
Reyes-García, Victoria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Attoh, Emmanuel M. N. A. N. (International Water Management Institute)
Barrington-Leigh, Christopher (McGill University)
Benyei, Petra (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Calvet Mir, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Chakauya, Rumbidzayi (IKS and Resilience Insights. Bristol (Regne Unit))
Al Faisal, Abdullah (McGill University)
Galbraith, Eric (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Glauser, Marcos (Iniciativa Amotocodie. Asunción (Paraguay))
Izquierdo, Andrea E. (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Argentina))
Junqueira, André B. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Li, Xiaoyue (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
López-Maldonado, Yolanda (Indigenous Science. Mérida (México))
Miñarro, Sara (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Porcher, Vincent (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Porcuna Ferrer, Anna (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Schlingmann, Anna (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Singh, Priyatma (The University of Fiji)
Torrents-Ticó, Miquel (Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	Climate change profoundly affects well-being in complex and interconnected ways. However, the relationship between climate change and well-being has been explored in only a handful of settings, most of which are industrialized. Here, we investigate the association between perceived climate change impacts, their severity and subjective well-being (measured as life satisfaction) using cross-culturally comparable first-hand reports from 2488 participants across 14 nature-dependent communities. We find a negative association between site-aggregated life satisfaction and different metrics of climate change: perceptions of local impacts, reported severity and instrumental measurements. Within sites, individual-level associations between perceived severity of climate change impacts and life satisfaction are weak or absent. Further analysis suggests that site-level characteristics play a crucial role in shaping these patterns. This could indicate that it is the overall vulnerability and exposure of a community to climate change impacts, rather than individual experiences that matters most. Our findings offer a nuanced understanding of how climate change impacts relate to well-being, emphasizing the multidimensional character of climate change impacts and underscoring the importance of local context in shaping these relationships.
Grants:	Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades CEX2024-001506-M
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra, i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials i que es distribueixin sota la mateixa llicència que regula l'obra original. Cal que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Climate change perception ; Cross-cultural studies ; Indigenous Peoples ; Life satisfaction ; SDG 13 - Climate Action
Published in:	People and Nature, December 2025, ISSN 2575-8314

DOI: 10.1002/pan3.70230

15 p, 1.6 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles