The Anger & Agency Monitor, based on data gathered by Critical Research on behalf of Mindworks Lab, explores the emotional landscape across ten countries, mapping how emotions like anger and perceived agency influence action, particularly on climate issues. The data and resulting recommendations aim to enable changemakers and policymakers to design interventions built on a better understanding of their audiences and the emotions that shape their actions and beliefs. Data was collected in Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Hungary, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland, Serbia, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
According to the Monitor, “changemakers”, e.g. politicians, campaigners and other civil society actors, can use “Constructive anger as a power to achieve the societal transformation they strive for. To do so they need to find ways to build people’s perceived personal and political agency and be sensitive to the cultural nuances of anger expression and perception in their country. Understanding how to do this is at the heart of this research.”
“The results of the Anger & Agency Monitor describe an alarming situation”, the report concludes. “While there are differences between countries, overall, we see high levels of perceived powerlessness, anger, especially towards governments and elites, and widespread emotional climate denial. The economic challenges faced by many are spurring anger and a lack of trust in governments and elites. In such a context, climate mitigation actions perceived as further sacrifices to be made are likely to face rejection.”
“In years when multiple crises beset the world, we must acknowledge the anger, disillusionment, and insecurity that grow in many people. As proven on many occasions, good and bad, unleashing these emotions can drive fundamental change”, said Stefan Flothmann, Head of Research at Mindworks Lab.
“As the COP29 climate summit opens in Baku, and we look towardsCOP30 in Brazil next year, climate changemakers and civil society organisations need a new approach – quickly evolving from informing or making demands, to understanding and deeply engaging with the public’s emotions”, added Flothmann.
Key Findings
- While less than a quarter of the people in all countries felt anger in the two weeks preceding being surveyed, in many countries more than 50% of the population said they felt angry about issues such as the financial crisis, governmental corruption or environmental pollution. Anger regarding climate change was present in every country, though it remained relatively low.
- Anger towards institutions or a group of people (or blame) differs geographically. While South Eastern European countries showed high levels, Asian countries tended to be more restrained. Political entities like the government, political elites or political parties received the most blame across all countries. Meanwhile, in the UK and India, we found a concerning presence of anger towards climate activists.
- Constructive anger was found to be present across all countries surveyed, with a portion of the population falling into this anger type. This was particularly notable in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines whilst the lowest numbers were found in Hungary and Serbia. Constructive anger tends to be action-oriented, aimed at tackling injustice and the expression of anger is appropriate to the cause.
- On levels of perceived political and personal power, notable disparities between countries were observed. The Philippines and Indonesia showed the highest levels of personal power while India and Indonesia showed highest levels of political power. Meanwhile, the UK and Serbia showed the lowest levels of political power, with Serbia also showing the lowest levels of personal power alongside Poland.
- Those people with low levels of personal power (their ability to control their own lives) were more likely to display the Toxic anger type. In all countries, the Toxic anger group has the lowest perception of personal power. Toxic anger was highest in Poland and South Korea. If people are angry but powerless their anger is much more likely to turn toxic as frustration gives way to looking for someone to blame, or any opportunity to vent their anger, with the emotion often instrumentalised and directed towards an “other” group.
- With a special focus on young people in our four Asian countries, we found higher levels of anger, powerlessness and Toxic anger than the average population. This was particularly true in India and the Philippines. Young people also tended to show higher levels of worry and lower hope in this region.
- Across all countries surveyed, individuals who expressed anger about climate change were more likely to take climate action.
- In 7 out of the 10 countries surveyed, over 80% of the population had either full, partial or optimistic climate denial, rising to 91% in India. The Monitor applies a broader approach looking at emotional climate denial which covers forms such as optimistic denial, for example “that technology will save us”, or partial denial, for example that “climate change is exaggerated”.
Download the Anger & Agency Monitor
See also our earlier Anger & Agency Monitor (September 2023)
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