BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Clim.
Sec. Climate Action
Carbon emissions and subjective well-being in Blue Zone Ikaria and Athens, Greece
Provisionally accepted
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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Reducing carbon emissions has become largely synonymous with personal sacrifice that can decrease subjective well-being (i.e., happiness, life satisfaction). However, a growing body of research suggests that pro-environmental behavior is positively associated with subjective well-being. To further examine this relationship, this exploratory study examined individual carbon emissions and subjective well-being in Blue Zone Ikaria, Greece, using Athens as a comparison site. Structured interviews and questionnaires with 46 participants (22 in Ikaria, 24 in Athens) revealed that Icarian participants reported higher mental well-being and lower carbon emissions from air travel and clothing consumption than Athenian participants. Icarian participants were also more likely to grow their own food and identify as part of a tight-knit community. These findings suggest that community-focused lifestyles may promote mental well-being while reducing carbon emissions. Future research with larger, more representative samples and objective emissions data is needed to further explore this relationship in Ikaria and other non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) societies.
Keywords: Carbon Footprint, climate action, Greenhouse gas emissions, non-WEIRD culture, Well-being
Received: 19 Jul 2025; Accepted: 03 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Radke, Argentopoulos and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jade Radke
Jiaying Zhao
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