ERIC Number: EJ1480089
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1750-8592
EISSN: EISSN-1750-8606
Available Date: 2024-10-16
Coming of Age in a Warming World: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective
Child Development Perspectives, v19 n3 p129-138 2025
Today's youth are growing up in a world threatened by climate change. Facing an uncertain future, young people--and especially adolescents--tend to be concerned about climate change, even more so than other age groups. How can socializing agents (e.g., educators, policymakers, clinicians) support and engage adolescents as they come of age in a warming world? In this article, we review studies on climate change and youth development from the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT). SDT provides a framework for understanding a nascent body of literature on adolescents' responses to climate change. In particular, SDT offers insights into the factors that can facilitate or undermine adolescents' internalization of climate science, engagement in pro-environmental behavior, and capacity for resilience and well-being. We discuss SDT's potential to inform efforts to encourage positive youth development amid climate change, and we identify priorities for investigation.
Descriptors: Self Determination, Climate, Adolescents, Adolescent Development, Resilience (Psychology), Well Being, Conservation (Environment)
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; 2Department of Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

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