Generational Climate Engagement in Liquid Modernity: Eco-Anxiety, Environmental Activism and Pro-Environmental Behavior Among Older Adults in Spain

Academic Editors: Teresa Amezcua-Aguilar, Antonia Rodríguez Martínez and Javier Cortés Moreno Received: 15 July 2025 Revised: 22 September 2025 Accepted: 23 September 2025 Published: 25 September 2025 Citation: López-Rodríguez, M.D.; Lozano-Díaz, A.; Rodríguez-Puertas, R.; Fernández-Prados, J.S. Generational Climate Engagement in Liquid Modernity: Eco-Anxiety, Environmental Activism and Pro-Environmental Behavior Among Older Adults in Spain. Societies 2025, 15, 266. https://doi.org/10.3390/ soc15100266 Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/). Article Generational Climate Engagement in Liquid Modernity: Eco-Anxiety, Environmental Activism and Pro-Environmental Behavior Among Older Adults in Spain María D. López-Rodríguez 1, Antonia Lozano-Díaz 2, Rubén Rodríguez-Puertas 1,* and Juan S. Fernández-Prados 1 1Department of Geography, History and Humanities, CEMyRI, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain; [email protected] (M.D.L.-R.); [email protected] (J.S.F.-P.) 2Department of Education, CEMyRI, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain; [email protected] *Correspondence: r[email protected] Abstract Generational approaches to climate engagement among older adults remain limited. This study examines the evolution of eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and proenvironmental behavior from a life course perspective, focusing on older adults in Spain. A nationwide CATI survey of 3000 residents aged 18 and older was conducted, employing validated multidimensional scales for eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and proenvironmental behavior, each rescaled to a 0–10 range. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analyses of variance, and hierarchical regression models to estimate linear and quadratic age effects beyond sex, education, and subjective social class. Results show that (1) eco-anxiety follows an inverted-U pattern, peaking at ages 45–49 and declining significantly after 60; (2) environmental activism remains high until the late sixties, while everyday pro-environmental behaviors sharply decline after retirement; and (3) eco-anxiety and environmental action in older adults are partially decoupled, reflecting the role of supportive personal and contextual factors beyond emotional concern. The findings challenge prevailing stereotypes of passive older adults by demonstrating that older age can constitute a significant period of climate engagement. Despite a slight decline in climate concern following retirement, the willingness to take action remains notably resilient. Older adults maintain consistent involvement in environmental volunteering and activism, often motivated by a desire to leave a lasting legacy and shaped by personal experiences of past crises and collective struggles. However, pro-environmental behaviors show a marked decrease in older adults, not due to diminished interest but likely as a result of structural constraints such as declining health, limited income, and inadequate housing conditions. This study suggests that, in the context of liquid modernity marked by rapid change and uncertainty, older adults may serve as societal anchors—preserving narratives, emotional bonds, and civic networks. Through policies that address structural barriers, this anchor role can be supported, empowering older adults to improve their well-being and strengthening community resilience in the face of climate change. Keywords: eco-anxiety; environmental activism; pro-environmental behavior; life course; older adults; intergenerational; Spain; liquid modernity; active aging; climate literacy Societies 2025,15, 266 https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15100266 Societies 2025,15, 266 2 of 17 1. Introduction The climate crisis has ceased to be a distant prospect and has become a daily reality that permeates family conversations, news broadcasts, and increasingly, the psychological well-being of individuals. In this context, recent literature has identified eco-anxiety as a specific form of psychological distress linked to the perception of environmental threats, characterized by chronic worry, rumination, and a certain degree of dysfunction in daily life [ 1 ]. Although eco-anxiety has been the focus of growing scholarly attention, particularly among adolescents and young adults [ 2 ], the relative scarcity of research addressing its manifestation across the adult life course—and especially among older adults—is both notable and, arguably, problematic [ 3 ]. This gap is especially paradoxical given that population aging and climate change are simultaneous processes that are reshaping the public agenda of the 21st century. The life course is not merely a biological sequence; it also involves social trajectories, shared historical milestones, and culturally embedded repertoires of meaning that shape how individuals at different life stages perceive and respond to environmental threats [ 4 ]. As Bauman [ 5 ] suggests, we inhabit a condition of liquid modernity, in which frameworks of meaning and social certainties are increasingly fragile. These conditions influence how people perceive environmental risks and engage with sustainability issues, shaping eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior. In this context, generational interpretations of environmental risk take on particular importance, especially as traditional ways of understanding humanity’s relationship with nature and the viability of a shared future become increasingly fragile and contested. Individuals socialized prior to the so-called “CO 2 era” may exhibit comparatively lower levels of climate anxiety not necessarily due to apathy or disengagement—but because their cognitive and affective frameworks were formed in a historical context in which environmental threats were neither named nor framed with the urgency that characterizes current discourse. However, qualitative research conducted with Australian farmers [ 6 ], older Israeli adults [ 7 ], and rural activists in the United Kingdom [ 8 ] reveals that older individuals are not immune to climate-related distress. On the contrary, they experience unique combinations of nostalgia for lost landscapes, solastalgia—the distress caused by environmental change in one’s home environment—and profound moral concern about the environmental legacy they will leave to future generations. In this context, it is also important to note that experiencing eco-anxiety does not inherently translate into greater environmental engagement. In some cases, the emotional intensity associated with climate-related concern may lead to what has been described as eco-paralysis—a state of psychological exhaustion that inhibits proactive behavior [ 9 ]. In other instances, the same emotional response may serve as a catalyst for environmental activism, manifesting through practices such as digital advocacy, critical consumption, or participation in public demonstrations [ 10 , 11 ]. Whether eco-anxiety leads to mobilization or inaction is contingent upon a constellation of mediating factors, including perceived self-efficacy, community support, and the availability of culturally meaningful “scripts” for effective action [ 12 ]. In older adults, these variables are further shaped by age-specific conditions—such as retirement, declining health, and income constraints—as well as by a generational imperative: the moral drive to ensure a livable planet for children and grandchildren [13]. In Spain, empirical evidence on the relationship between eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior across the life course remains limited in the context of climate change. Spain provides a pertinent context for examining aging and climate engagement, given its rapidly aging population, recurrent heatwaves and droughts, and strong tradition of local civic participation. These characteristics make the country particularly informative for studying how these phenomena manifest across the adult Societies 2025,15, 266 3 of 17 life course, with a focus on older adults. The present study—based on a CATI survey of 3000 residents aged 18 and older—aims to address this gap by exploring the evolution of eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior from a life course perspective. Although the survey includes adults of all ages, the primary analytic focus is on older adults (aged ≥ 65 years), with particular emphasis on the later life segment. Our ultimate goal is to inform climate health and ecological transition policies that include— rather than merely protect—older adults, while strengthening community resilience in the face of climate change. 2. Theoretical Framework 2.1. Eco-Anxiety Across the Life Course The Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS) operationalizes eco-anxiety through four closely interrelated facets: affective symptoms (e.g., restlessness, sadness), cognitive rumination, functional impairment, and anxiety specifically focused on one’s personal environmental footprint [ 1 ]. This structure reflects the notion that climate concern is not a singular emotional state, but rather a complex web of experiences ranging from constant monitoring of environmental news to a subjective sense of responsibility for harm to the planet. Crosssectional studies—mainly with European and North American samples—identify peaks in eco-anxiety during early adulthood, followed by subsequent declines [ 2 ]. However, this pattern may result from an overlap between cohort effects and life course dynamics. From a developmental perspective, generations born from the 1990s onward have internalized climate risk as a central element of their socialization, whereas older adults incorporated it later and may therefore express it in less catastrophic terms [4]. Olszewski’s framework [ 3 ] adds nuance by proposing a U-shaped curve: in youth, moral urgency and intense media narratives heighten concern; in middle adulthood, work and family responsibilities temporarily shift attention elsewhere; and, finally, in old age, ecoanxiety resurges alongside increased physical vulnerability and greater exposure to extreme events. Indeed, the literature on climate-related disasters highlights that direct experience of persistent heatwaves, floods, or wildfires modulates the intensity of emotional responses in older adults [ 5 ]. The combination of physiological fragility, reduced support networks, and perceived socio-territorial dependence renders this group a sensitive barometer of the psychosocial effects of climate change. At the same time, the life course equips many older individuals with intergenerational coping strategies—such as storytelling, humor, and collective memory—that can mitigate or reframe eco-anxiety. This dynamic interplay between vulnerability and resilience has become an emerging focus in the psychology of climate aging. These emotional responses can serve as a powerful impetus for collective action, a topic we explore in the following section on environmental activism. 2.2. Environmental Activism in Old Age Environmental activism takes on a wide range of forms, including signing digital petitions, participating in climate strikes, boycotting polluting companies, restoring local ecosystems, and engaging in strategic litigation. Far from the stereotypical image of activism as exclusively youth-driven, ethnographic studies confirm that older adults assume diverse roles within these struggles. The social movement “Knitting Nannas Against Gas and Greed” in Australia illustrates how protest can literally be “woven”—with needles and yarn—into communities of mutual care and popular pedagogy [ 14 ]. Similarly, the “River Guardians” described in the United Kingdom organize their activism around the defense of riverbanks, the transmission of ecological knowledge, and a strong sense of territorial belonging [8]. Societies 2025,15, 266 4 of 17 These expressions are closely linked to the Activity Theory of Aging, which holds that as people age, they can continue engaging in social and physical activities by adapting their life experiences and available resources—potentially giving rise to a motivation to leave a meaningful legacy for future generations [ 15 ]. This motivation is not limited to biological descendants; it encompasses a symbolic commitment to the community and the landscape that sustains it. In this way, environmental defense becomes an exercise in identity and biographical continuity, aligning with the Values–Beliefs–Norms (VBN) model, which posits that internalized biospheric values activate personal norms of moral obligation that, in turn, predict collective participation [ 16 ]. In practice, this value convergence grants older adults unique narrative capital: their life stories serve as testimony to long-term environmental change and as an ethical call for intergenerational action. However, participation in protests is not without obstacles. Physical limitations, the digital divide, and the lack of sustainable transportation networks can restrict older adults’ presence at large-scale events. Even so, many overcome these barriers through forms of “proximity activism”: mentoring young activists, providing logistical support, disseminating accurate information, and applying political pressure through retirees’ organizations. These modes illustrate that older adult activism does not necessarily replicate youth repertoires but rather complements them with affective, temporal, and social resources specific to older adults. Beyond formal activism, these motivations and resources also shape a wide range of everyday pro-environmental behaviors. 2.3. Pro-Environmental Behavior in Older Adults Pro-environmental behavior ranges from low-cost, straightforward symbolic behaviors— such as recycling, reducing plastic use, or adjusting the thermostat—to high-cost structural behaviors including adopting low-meat diets, installing solar panels, or investing in ethical funds [ 17 ]. Symbolic behaviors generally have a smaller direct environmental impact than structural behaviors, but can produce indirect effects through norm signaling and diffusion, and may serve social or identity functions. Comparative analyses reveal that age-related patterns are far from linear: older adults tend to excel in sustainable household practices and routines, while younger individuals are more likely to engage in active sustainable mobility and the consumption of “green” products [ 18 ]. This diversity calls for the refinement of existing theoretical frameworks. The Theory of Planned Behavior [ 19 ] places perceived control at its core; in older adults, this perception may be weakened by fixed incomes, mobility limitations, or technological barriers. From a generational perspective, older adult pro-environmental behavior is often interpreted as an expression of legacy and moral responsibility toward descendants, which helps explain the persistence of conservationist habits even as physical capacities decline. However, it is important to recognize that other factors also influence behavior, as ideological and cultural variability, along with personal experiences, can also significantly influence how individuals from this cohort relate to environmental issues, adding a layer of complexity to the phenomenon [ 20 ]. In addition to these factors, research has shown that concern for the environment does not automatically lead to pro-environmental action. Other mediating factors—such as age, personal resources, and contextual conditions— play a critical role in shaping behavior [ 17 ]. Depending on these factors, eco-anxiety may either motivate action or fail to trigger it. Coates et al. [ 21 ] found that, in financial decision-making, individuals with moderate climate anxiety value sustainability as much as economic return—unlike those at the extremes, who tend to fall into either eco-paralysis or skepticism. In everyday practice, these logics intersect. For example, an older adult with moderate eco-anxiety and high self-efficacy may choose to engage in high-cost structural behaviors, such as installing solar panels—an action with a high initial cost but tangible Societies 2025,15, 266 5 of 17 long-term benefits. In contrast, another individual with high anxiety but low perceived control may limit their contribution to low-cost symbolic behaviors, while a third person, experiencing minimal anxiety, might see no need for any behavioral change. This behavioral spectrum underscores the importance of tailored interventions based on emotional profiles and the life resources available to each individual. Taken together, these frameworks provide a coherent understanding of climate engagement in older adults. The Activity Theory of Aging highlights how participation in meaningful activities reinforces identity and well-being, the VBN model emphasizes moral and value-driven motivations, and the Theory of Planned Behavior focuses on attitudes, norms, and perceived control. From an environmental justice perspective, infrastructural inequalities—such as limited access to digital technologies or transportation—can further constrain opportunities to act [ 22 ]. Together, these frameworks illustrate how psychological, moral, social, and structural factors interact to shape eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior across the adult life course. 2.4. Study Hypotheses Systematic reviews emphasize the scarcity of longitudinal studies that integrate emotional and behavioral variables related to climate change in older adults [ 12 ]. This gap prevents researchers from determining whether eco-anxiety decreases, remains stable, or intensifies with age, and hinders the assessment of bidirectional causation between emotion and action. Additionally, psychometric adaptations of the HEAS rarely report age-disaggregated norms, limiting cross-cultural comparability and the identification of at-risk cohorts [ 20 ]. In the realm of activism, the prevailing narrative of “youth leadership” has rendered older adult contributions largely invisible, despite studies on climate strikes demonstrating their significant presence [ 10 ]. Finally, the methodological tendency to collapse pro-environmental behaviors into global indices persists, overlooking the behavioral selectivity that stems from the specific opportunities and constraints associated with different stages of life [18]. In response to these gaps in the academic literature, our study formulates the following hypotheses. H1: Eco-anxiety follows a curvilinear trajectory across the life course, peaking in midlife and rising again slightly in old age. H2: Environmental activism remains relatively high until approximately age sixty, after which it declines moderately. H3: Pro-environmental behavior follows a curvilinear trajectory across the life course, increasing through midlife and declining in older age, possibly due to the increasing influence of practical barriers (e.g., health, income, mobility, and digital barriers). Additionally, we formulate a fourth hypothesis to articulate the expected associations between these constructs. H4: The three key constructs—eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and proenvironmental behavior—are positively associated with one another: H4a. Eco-anxiety is positively associated with environmental activism; H4b. Eco-anxiety is positively associated with pro-environmental behavior, though this association is weaker than for activism (partial decoupling); and H4c. Environmental activism is positively associated with proenvironmental behavior. Through this approach, the analytical framework seeks to position older adults not merely as vulnerable recipients of climate impacts, but as key—and often underestimated—actors in the ecological transition. 3. Materials and Methods 3.1. Sampling Strategy and Data Collection This study employed a structured telephone survey using Likert-type scales, administered through the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) method via both landlines and mobile phones (September and October 2024). A stratified random sample of Societies 2025,15, 266 6 of 17 3000 residents aged 18 and older was drawn using census data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (www.ine.es, accessed on 10 September 2024) as the sampling frame. The sample was stratified by sex, five-year age group, and 19 regions (17 Autonomous Communities and 2 Autonomous Cities) to ensure coverage across key demographic and geographic subgroups. A disproportional stratified sampling approach was used to ensure sufficient sample sizes in each age/sex/region cell, and population weights were applied in the analyses to reflect the distribution of gender, age, and region in the Spanish population. To achieve the final sample of 3000 completed interviews, a total of 23,614 telephone numbers were contacted, yielding a response rate of 12.7%. The majority of non-completions were due to non-contacts (61.8% no answer), while refusals represented 2.8% of all calls. These outcomes are consistent with response patterns commonly observed in large-scale telephone surveys. The sample size provides a margin of error of ± 1.79% at a 95% confidence level, assuming a population proportion of 50%. Each interview lasted approximately 25 min. 3.2. Survey Instruments: Development, Adaptation, and Scales Overview The survey was designed to collect standardized data, enabling replication and extension of the findings in future research phases. Prior to implementation, the instrument’s reliability was assessed through a pilot test conducted with a small, socio-demographically diverse sample. Subsequently, the instrument underwent external review by three expert researchers. Ethical guidelines were rigorously observed throughout the process, and all datasets, coding schemes, and protocols related to the scales are available upon request. The scales were administered following a strict protocol that included obtaining informed consent from participants and ensuring their anonymity. Each instrument was presented in a translated and culturally adapted version, thereby confirming its cultural validity. Linguistic adaptations followed established translation guidelines, including a rigorous back-translation process conducted by our research team and subsequently validated by bilingual Spanish-English speakers. All methodological decisions aimed to guarantee the reliability and reproducibility of the collected data. Three primary scales were employed in this study, each adapted to a 0-to-10 response range to enhance practicality and facilitate visual analysis: • Eco-Anxiety Scale. Our approach was based on the multidimensional instrument developed by Hogg et al. [ 23 ], designed to capture worry, nervous tension, and functional impairments experienced when reflecting on the climate crisis. The scale includes thirteen items addressing symptoms such as nervousness, intrusive thoughts about climate change, and difficulties sleeping or maintaining a relaxed social life due to climate-related anxiety. • Environmental Activism Scale. This 5-item scale draws inspiration from Alisat and Riemer’s Environmental Action Scale [ 24 ] and aims to assess individuals’ participation in campaigns, social movements, and online spaces promoting lifestyles centered on reduced consumption and degrowth. The scale includes questions about attendance at awareness events, involvement in citizen initiatives, and engagement in forums or groups advocating environmental care (Appendix A). • Pro-Environmental Behavior Scale. Comprising six items, this scale measures routine behaviors intended to minimize one’s ecological footprint. The items are based on the conceptualizations of Alisat and Riemer [ 24 ], as well as Drews and van den Bergh [ 25 ]. The scale covers aspects such as seeking information on ecological practices through social media, reducing personal emissions, and supporting initiatives focused on degrowth or environmental protection (Appendix A). Societies 2025,15, 266 7 of 17 Table 1confirms the metric robustness of the three instruments following their rescaling from 1–7 to 0–10. The uniform 0–10 range was chosen for consistency and ease of use, and while this may affect direct comparisons with original scales, the instruments’ psychometric properties remained robust, ensuring their validity for this study. For the Eco-Anxiety Scale (Table 1), the thirteen items yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.948—a value approaching the upper limit of internal consistency, suggesting that all items converge on a single latent continuum. However, such high homogeneity warrants attention to potential semantic redundancies in future revisions. The mean score of 46.13 (SD = 18.31) corresponds to 3.55 points per item—a moderate level of climate concern—while the high standard deviation indicates interindividual heterogeneity, which is expected in a sample diverse in age and environmental experiences. Item-total correlations ranged from 0.68 to 0.80, supporting the decision to retain the adapted item matrix in its original form. Table 1. Summary of psychometric properties of the scales. Scale No. of Items Cronbach’s Alpha Mean (Item Sum) SD (Item Sum) Item–Total Correlation Range Eco-Anxiety 13 0.948 46.13 18.31 0.68–0.80 Environmental Activism 5 0.946 13.81 8.49 0.82–0.89 Pro-Environmental Behavior 6 0.881 21.87 8.98 0.46–0.83 The Environmental Activism Scale shows similarly strong psychometric properties (Table 1). Despite comprising only five items, it achieved a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.946—nearly identical to the previous instrument, despite its brevity. The mean score of 13.81 ( SD = 8.49 )—approximately 2.8 per item—indicates that activist engagement is present but far from widespread; the level of dispersion suggests the coexistence of highly committed minorities alongside less active segments. Item-total correlations, all above 0.82, indicate that each item is essential for capturing the logic of activism, which is typically characterized by behaviors involving high symbolic and logistical costs. Regarding the Pro-Environmental Behavior Scale (Table 1), reliability remains high ( α= 0.881 ), though slightly lower—a finding consistent with the natural diversity of everyday practices included, ranging from recycling to reducing meat consumption. The mean score of 21.87 (SD = 8.98), or 3.64 points per item, is slightly higher than that of activism and aligns with the hypothesis that lower-cost behaviors are more widely distributed across the population. Here, item-total correlations range from 0.46 to 0.83, suggesting that certain activities—likely those more socially embedded—align more closely with the overall construct than others that are more situationally constrained. Overall, the high consistency of the three scales, combined with sufficient score variance, ensures both precision and analytical sensitivity—qualities that strengthen confidence in the explanatory models that will later explore the links between climate-related emotion, perceived efficacy, and environmental engagement across the life course. 3.3. Data Analysis Data analysis was conducted using SPSS (v30). The dataset was first examined for missing values, which were addressed and harmonized as appropriate. Selected variables were then recoded and standardized to ensure comparability across measurement scales. Descriptive statistics were computed for each item within five-year age brackets. Bivariate correlations were computed to examine zero-order associations among eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior, and their robustness was checked with Spearman’s and Kendall’s coefficients. Generational differences were assessed using analyses of variance (ANOVA), and a focused comparison of eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior was performed based on an age-based dichotomy Societies 2025,15, 266 8 of 17 ( ≥ 65 years vs. <65 years). To control for family-wise error, we applied the Holm–Bonferroni correction to all p-values derived from ANOVAs and t-tests. Finally, hierarchical regression models were applied to evaluate the relative contributions of gender, education, and subjective social class (measured via a five-point self-placement scale), followed by the incremental influence of age—entered as both a linear and a quadratic term—on ecoanxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior. We verified standard assumptions, including homoscedasticity and normality of residuals, and residual plots suggested no serious departures from these conditions. Therefore, no transformations of the variables were necessary to meet these assumptions. In addition, we conducted diagnostic checks for multicollinearity, with all Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) values falling below the conventional threshold of 5, indicating that the predictor variables were not excessively correlated. Cases with missing data on the variables included in the models were excluded, resulting in a total of 92 cases removed from the analysis (n = 2908 valid cases). This approach allowed us to assess not only whether age exerted an independent effect beyond other sociodemographic variables, but also whether its influence followed a non-linear trajectory across the life course. 4. Results 4.1. Description of Eco-Anxiety, Activism, and Environmental Behavior Across the Life Course To examine the distribution of the three constructs across the life course, responses were grouped into five-year age brackets ranging from 18 to 75 years and older. The mean scores for each scale—already normalized to a 0–10 range—are presented in Figure 1. Figure 1. Evolution of eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior by age group. Eco-anxiety exhibits an inverted U-shaped trajectory: it starts at a relatively low level among the youngest cohort (3.42), rises steadily to a peak in midlife (4.38 among those aged 45–49), and then declines almost linearly from age 60 onward, reaching 2.89 in the 75+ group (Figure 1). This pattern partially confirms Hypothesis H1. The older adults’ rebound reported in some studies is not observed in this sample, which may be interpreted through two non-mutually exclusive explanations: emotional adaptation through life experience or a shift in priorities toward more immediate health concerns. Environmental activism shows a high and surprisingly stable plateau: all age groups up to age 70 exceeding the 6-point threshold (Figure 1). The highest score appears in the 18–24 age group (6.65), with a secondary peak in the 55–59 bracket (6.64). A more Societies 2025,15, 266 9 of 17 pronounced decline emerges only from age 75 onward (5.31), likely reflecting physical limitations and a contraction of activist networks. This intergenerational persistence largely supports Hypothesis H2: activism does not sharply decline with age, although a downturn is evident in advanced old age. Pro-environmental behavior displays a more irregular trajectory (Figure 1). It gradually increases from youth to a peak among those aged 40–44 (5.04), a stage that coincides with peak purchasing power and, possibly, a greater capacity to adopt moderately costly behaviors (e.g., sustainable home practices or energy-efficient renovations). From age 50 onward , a steady decline begins, which becomes more pronounced among those over 65, who score below 3.4. This trajectory aligns with Hypothesis H3, suggesting that proenvironmental behavior increases through midlife before declining in older age. The contrast with the stability of activism suggests that everyday practices—more sensitive to economic resources, health, and housing context—are more affected by aging than symbolic civic participation. Cross-analysis of the three constructs reveals notable interactions. Table 2summarizes the relationship among the three constructs: eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and proenvironmental behavior through the life course. A general observation is that between ages 25 and 49, increases in eco-anxiety parallel rises in both activism and pro-environmental behavior, suggesting a potential mobilizing effect of moderate anxiety. However, in the 60–69 age range, eco-anxiety declines sharply while activism remains stable or even increases, indicating that motivation to act may persist despite reduced emotional distress, possibly due to a strong sense of generational responsibility. Table 2. Summary of eco-anxiety, environmental activism, and pro-environmental behavior across the life course and their interrelationships. Age Group Eco-Anxiety Environmental Activism Pro-Environmental Behavior Key Interaction/Insight 18–24 Low (3.42) Highest (6.65) Moderate, rising Activism exceeds eco-anxiety; early engagement not strongly anxiety-driven 25–49 Rising to peak (4.38 at 45–49) Stable high (>6) Rising, peak at 40–44 (5.04) Eco-anxiety and activism/behavior increase together →anxiety may mobilize action 50–59 Slight decline Stable high, secondary peak (6.64 at 55–59) Beginning to decline Activism maintained despite gradual drop in eco-anxiety and behavior 60–69 Sharply declining Stable high Declining Decoupling: activism persists even as eco-anxiety and behavior fall 70+ Lowest (2.89 at 75+) Noticeable decline (5.31 at 75+) Marked decline (<3.4) Triple downturn: aging constraints affect all three constructs 4.2. Bivariate Relationships Between Eco-Anxiety, Environmental Activism, and Pro-Environmental Behavior Bivariate correlations (Table 3) show no significant association between eco-anxiety and activism (r = 0.01; p= 0.47), a small association between eco-anxiety and proenvironmental behavior (r = 0.12; p< 0.001), and a moderate association between environmental activism and pro-environmental behavior (r = 0.36; p< 0.001). This structure is consistent with a “partial decoupling” between emotion and action: while activism and everyday behaviors tend to move together, eco-anxiety does not directly translate into Societies 2025,15, 266 16 of 17 Institutional Review Board Statement: This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Almería (UALBIO2024/035) on 11 July 2024). Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. CELESTE-TEL S.L. (NIF/CIF B96995469), C/Miramar, 43. Apartado de Correos 79, 46460 Silla (Valencia), certifies the informed consent of participants. Data Availability Statement: Data supporting the findings of this study are openly available in Mendeley Data (under embargo until June 2026) at López-Rodríguez, María D.; Lozano Díaz, Antonia; Rodríguez-Puertas, Rubén; Bellido Cáceres, Juan Manuel; Franco, Rosemberg; Fernández-Prados, Juan Sebastián (2025), “Attitudes towards to Degrowth and Climate Change”, Mendeley Data, V1. https://doi.org/10.17632/ssc47ksxf4.1 [26]. Acknowledgments: The authors are sincerely grateful to all individuals for their time and cooperation in responding to the survey. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Appendix A Environmental Activism Scale (5 items): 1. I participate in social movements or collectives that advocate adopting simpler, degrowth-oriented practices to change the course of climate change. 2. I get involved in awareness-raising campaigns about adopting simpler, degrowthoriented lifestyles. 3. I get involved in awareness-raising campaigns on the climate crisis. 4. I participate in online groups or forums to encourage others to adopt simpler, degrowth-oriented practices. 5. I participate in online groups or forums to raise awareness about the importance and consequences of climate change. Pro-Environmental Behavior Scale (6 items): 1. I actively seek to reduce my personal consumption of natural resources and goods. 2. I try to reduce my carbon footprint (e.g., minimizing air travel and using renewables). 3. I promote on my social networks events where climate change and its consequences are discussed. 4. I promote on my social networks events related to adopting simple, degrowthoriented lifestyles. 5. I share or comment on social-media posts related to degrowth as a solution to climate change. 6. 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