Climate Anxiety Shapes Career and Parenthood Decisions in College Students

Authors

• Minha Hossain, CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeFollow
• Patrycja Sleboda-Sobolev, CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeFollow

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 5-12-2026

Abstract

This study examined how climate anxiety influences future-oriented decision-making among college students, with particular attention to four decision-making domains: career planning, parenthood decisions, sustainability behaviors, and geographic mobility. Although climate anxiety has become increasingly common among young adults, less research has explored how it shapes long-term life decisions within diverse U.S. college populations or how psychological and contextual factors influence these relationships. A sample of 257 undergraduate students from Baruch College completed a Qualtrics survey measuring climate anxiety, climate-related emotions, hope, self-efficacy, migration background, and future-oriented decision-making domains. Results indicated that climate anxiety significantly predicted career and parenthood decision-making, but not mobility or sustainability behaviors, suggesting domain-specific effects. Higher climate anxiety was associated with reduced climate consideration in career decisions, although this relationship weakened at higher levels of hope. In contrast, higher climate anxiety was associated with greater climate-related concern surrounding parenthood decisions. Migration background further shaped responses, with first-generation students reporting higher sustainable behavior despite lower levels of financial and housing stability, while non-first-generation students reported greater concern about climate-related parenthood decisions. These findings suggest that climate anxiety does not operate uniformly across decision domains and that emotional and structural factors play important roles in shaping how young adults respond to climate-related uncertainty. The study highlights the importance of context-sensitive interventions that support agency, emotional coping, and future planning among emerging adults facing climate-related distress.