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Research Article

A Semantic Network Analysis of Social Perceptions of Climate Anxiety

언어네트워크 분석을 통한 기후불안에 대한 사회적 인식 연구

김병연1 · 강진영2†

Byungyeon Kim1 · Jinyoung Kang2†

1대구대학교 겸임교수
2한국교원대학교 환경학교육연구소 학술연구교수
1Adjunct Professor, Department of Geography Education, Daegu University
2Research Professor, Korea National University of Education
31 March 2026. pp. 51~68
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Abstract
This study conducted a semantic network analysis of big data from news articles to examine the social perception surrounding climate anxiety. A total of 335 news articles addressing climate anxiety were analyzed using network centrality measures and CONCOR clustering. The results are as follows. First, a dominant perspective was one that framed climate anxiety as an issue confined to specific populations, particularly adolescents and young adults, and reduced it to an individual-level problem. Second, a perception that medicalizes climate anxiety as a negative emotional state is prevalent. This framing positions climate anxiety as a mental health problem, yet pays insufficient attention to its potential positive or adaptive functions, such as motivating climate action or fostering constructive emotional engagement with the climate crisis. Third, public perception tends to emphasize individualized coping strategies, a pattern that reveals the absence of structural or institutional alternatives. Overall, climate anxiety tended to be framed not as a structural problem, but as an issue limited to certain populations or as a pathological condition to be managed and resolved at the individual level. These findings highlight the limitations of current social perceptions of climate anxiety and underscore the need for mental health, educational, and policy responses in the climate crisis era to move beyond individualized approaches toward more structural and collective frameworks.
Keywords
Climate anxiety
Social perception
News articles
Semantic network analysis
이 연구는 기후불안에 대한 사회적 인식을 확인하기 위해 언론 기사를 활용한 언어네트워크 분석을 실시하였다. 기후불안을 다루고 있는 335편의 언론 기사를 대상으로 네트워크 중심성 분석과 콘커 분석을 수행한 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 기후불안을 개인 및 청소년·청년층과 같은 ‘특정 집단’의 문제로 환원하는 관점이 두드러졌으며, 이 과정에서 기후위기 영향에 노출된 다양한 집단이 배제될 가능성을 가진다. 둘째, 기후불안을 부정적 정서로 ‘의학화(medicalization)’하는 인식이 형성된 것으로 드러났다. 이는 기후불안을 정신건강 문제로 규정하되, 긍정적 감정·적응적 기능·기후행동 촉진 가능성 등은 충분히 조명하지 않는 한계를 보여준다. 셋째, 기후불안에 대한 ‘개인화된 대응’ 전략에 집중하는 인식이 형성되어 있었으며, 이는 구조적·제도적 대안의 부재를 드러내고 있다. 종합하면, 기후불안에 대한 사회적 인식은 기후불안을 둘러싼 구조적 문제를 드러내기보다 분절된 문제의 영역으로 이해되는 경향성을 보여준다. 이 연구는 기후불안에 대한 사회적 인식의 한계를 드러내며, 향후 기후위기 시대의 정신건강·교육·정책적 대응이 개인적 접근을 넘어 구조적·집단적 관점으로 확장될 필요성을 제기한다.
키워드
기후불안
사회적 인식
언론기사
언어네트워크 분석
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Information
  • Publisher :The Association of Korean Geographers
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국지리학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of the Association of Korean Geographers
  • Journal Title(Ko) :한국지리학회지
  • Volume : 15
  • No :1
  • Pages :51~68
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.25202/JAKG.15.1.4
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