ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1481964
This article is part of the Research TopicClimate Change Challenge: Adaptation to Climate ChangeView all 19 articles
How Pacific Crest Trail Hikers Describe Associations between their Wildfire Experiences, Climate Change Construal, and Reported Pro-Environmental Behavior
Provisionally accepted
Lindsay B. Miller*
Ronald E. Rice- University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
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As wildfires and extreme weather events increase in frequency and severity, understanding individuals' psychological and behavioral responses to these rising climate change impacts is necessary to cultivate pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Based on a theoretical model grounded in construal level theory and the theory of reasoned action, we propose that exposure to wildfires is associated with psychological distance of climate change, climate change and wildfire attitudes, and PEB; that psychological distance is associated with climate change attitudes and PEB; and that subjective norms are associated with PEB. We assess these associations through an a priori content analysis of 66 semi-structured interviews with Pacific Crest Trail hikers during the 2022 wildfire season, illustrated through quotes responding to interview questions asking about such associations. The analyses and quotes provide initial support for the proposed model, nuanced insights into the subdimensions of each construct, and a basis for possible wildfire and climate change messaging.
Keywords: psychological distance, Construal Level Theory (CLT), Wildfire Experiences, Climate change perceptions, Pro-environmental behavior (PEB), Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), semi-structured interviews, environmental psychology
Received: 17 Aug 2024; Accepted: 29 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Miller and Rice. 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: Lindsay B. Miller, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
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