Communicating the Impact of Climate Change on Health: The Role of Psychological Distance and Personal Narratives on Climate Change Health Worries and Actions

Bingbing Zhang; Raleigh Darnell; Nur Hossain

doi:10.1080/17524032.2025.2556190

Back

Communicating the Impact of Climate Change on Health: The Role of Psychological Distance and Personal Narratives on Climate Change Health Worries and Actions

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Communicating the Impact of Climate Change on Health: The Role of Psychological Distance and Personal Narratives on Climate Change Health Worries and Actions

Bingbing Zhang, Raleigh Darnell and Nur Hossain

Environmental communication, Vol.20(3), pp.587-603

2026

DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2025.2556190

View Online

Abstract

While the health effects of climate change are well-documented, the effectiveness of emphasizing these impacts in climate communication remains underexplored. Additionally, these health impacts are often depicted in distant scenarios, such as those affecting communities in developing countries or in psychologically closer contexts, such as threats to local neighborhoods where the health risks are immediate and tangible. Based on construal level theory and narrative persuasion framework, this study examines how distance framing and narrative message formats influence psychological distance, climate health worry, and climate-friendly actions. The results indicated that proximal framing of climate health impacts reduces psychological distance, increases climate health worry, and encourages climate-friendly behaviors. Narrative messages were more effective than non-narrative ones in reducing psychological distance, increasing climate health worry and promoting climate-friendly behaviors, particularly when combined with proximal framing. Our study offers significant practical implications for professionals and communicators in the field of climate change communication.

Climate Change

climate-friendly behaviors

construal level theory

narrative persuasion

psychological distance

Details

Title: Subtitle: Communicating the Impact of Climate Change on Health: The Role of Psychological Distance and Personal Narratives on Climate Change Health Worries and Actions
Creators: Bingbing Zhang - University of Iowa
Raleigh Darnell
Nur Hossain - University of Iowa
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Environmental communication, Vol.20(3), pp.587-603
DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2025.2556190
ISSN: 1752-4032
eISSN: 1752-4040
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 09/09/2025
Date published: 2026
Academic Unit: Center for Social Science Innovation; School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Record Identifier: 9984963621602771

Metrics

18 Record Views

3 Times Cited - Web of Science