Skip to main content
Login | Suomeksi | På svenska | In English

Climate change memes to prevent anxious dreams : using humor as a coping mechanism for climate change anxiety

Show simple item record

dc.date.accessioned 2021-06-30T05:35:11Z
dc.date.available 2021-06-30T05:35:11Z
dc.date.issued 2021-06-30
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/37121
dc.title Climate change memes to prevent anxious dreams : using humor as a coping mechanism for climate change anxiety en
ethesis.faculty Bio- ja ympäristötieteellinen tiedekunta fi
ethesis.faculty Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences en
ethesis.faculty Bio- och miljövetenskapliga fakulteten sv
ethesis.faculty.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/4d959249-d6aa-44fa-93ff-807dbf9ffaae
ethesis.university.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/50ae46d8-7ba9-4821-877c-c994c78b0d97
ethesis.university Helsingin yliopisto fi
ethesis.university University of Helsinki en
ethesis.university Helsingfors universitet sv
dct.creator Peters, Dana
dct.issued 2021
dct.language.ISO639-2 eng
dct.abstract Concern about global warming can lead to climate change anxiety, a form of anxiety characterized by excessive worry about the climate crisis and associated consequences on the natural world and human society. It has been suggested by previous research that humor can be used to manage feelings of anxiety. This study seeks to determine if this phenomenon can be applied specifically to climate change anxiety. The research combines a comprehensive literature review with an online survey that leveraged climate change themed internet memes as a proxy for humor to gather opinions about the intersections between these two topics. The survey data supplemented claims made by existing literature, indicating that climate change themed internet memes and humor in general can be useful coping mechanisms to mitigate feelings of climate anxiety. The survey was completed by 93 respondents; most of these participants were women, located in the US, and/or between the ages of 20 and 29. Results from the survey showed that people tend to feel best about their environmental anxiety when they are taking active steps to solve the problem. Conscious decisions such as reducing waste or participating in activist movements are easier to recognize and self-report than more passive coping skills. Reliance on humor was reported as a supplementary coping skill, but many respondents indicated that looking at humorous climate change themed memes did influence their feelings about climate change overall. The scope of this study was relatively small in scale, therefore the results presented in this thesis may not be indicative of broader social trends and likely require further research. en
dct.subject climate change en
dct.subject anxiety en
dct.subject humor en
dct.subject internet en
dct.subject online en
dct.subject memes en
dct.subject communication en
dct.language en
ethesis.language.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/languages/eng
ethesis.language englanti fi
ethesis.language English en
ethesis.language engelska sv
ethesis.supervisor Lillqvist, Ella
ethesis.supervisor Heiskanen, Eva
ethesis.thesistype pro gradu -tutkielmat fi
ethesis.thesistype master's thesis en
ethesis.thesistype pro gradu-avhandlingar sv
ethesis.thesistype.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/thesistypes/mastersthesis
dct.identifier.ethesis E-thesisID:90be548c-9540-43b9-9ae0-e03654feb80d
ethesis-internal.timestamp.reviewStep 2021-05-10 11:15:07:045
ethesis.principalprofessor Heiskanen, Eva
dct.identifier.urn URN:NBN:fi:hulib-202106303261
dc.type.dcmitype Text
ethesis.facultystudyline Globaali kestävyys fi
ethesis.facultystudyline Global Sustainability en
ethesis.facultystudyline Global hållbarhet sv
ethesis.facultystudyline.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/SH57_115
ethesis.mastersdegreeprogram Ympäristömuutoksen ja globaalin kestävyyden maisteriohjelma fi
ethesis.mastersdegreeprogram Master's Programme in Environmental Change and Global Sustainability en
ethesis.mastersdegreeprogram Magisterprogrammet i miljöförändringar och global hållbarhet sv
ethesis.mastersdegreeprogram.URI http://data.hulib.helsinki.fi/id/MH57_005

Files in this item

Files Size Format View
Peters_Dana_thesis_2021.pdf 1.771Mb PDF

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record