Factors Affecting Ecological Anger and Environmental Maladaptation Among Farmers in Zanjan Province

The first key step in preserving the environment is to investigate maladaptive behaviors, which are based on the extraction of more natural resources. Farmers, especially subsistence farmers, are close witnesses and at serious risk of climate change struggle to make a living in the face of these emerging climate disorders, specifically if their business ecosystem is adversely affected by climate change and their job security is not maintained, they will move towards extracting more natural resources and thus intensifying climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate the drivers of maladaptive behaviors, including the effect of climate change exposure on socio-economic disruptions and then ecological anger by descriptive correlation method. The study population was all farmers in Zanjan province who were sampled by multi-stage stratified method. The sample size was estimated to be 265 using Cochran's formula. A questionnaire was used to measure the research variables, the validity of which was evaluated using the opinion of experts and its reliability was verified using a pilot test. The results of this study showed that people who were exposed to more climate change, experienced more socio-economic disruptions that led to the formation of eco-anger and increased environmental maladaptive behaviors and the desire to extract more natural resources. Therefore, considering the damage caused to the environment and natural resources and its negative effects on the intensification of climate change caused by these conditions, it is suggested that: to prevent the formation of maladaptive behaviors, control ecological anger, and reducing socio-economic disruptions affected by climate change, necessary measures to adapt should be given priority in government decisions and strategic planning to maintain security and environmental sustainability including empowerment and resilience of the agricultural sector and farmers in the face of climate change.