A social-cognitive model of climate change behavioral adaption in Tonga: Relationships among indigenous knowledge, social media use, norms, values, and spiritual beliefs

Abstract

This study develops a social-cognitive model of climate change behavioral intention in the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. Tonga ranks as the third most vulnerable nation in the world to climate change. Warming ocean temperatures due to climate change are intensifying the destructive potential of cyclones, adversely impacting marine ecosystems, and raising sea level which threatens low lying islands and coastal communities. The model considers the relationships among indigenous knowledge, climate change knowledge, social media use, social norms, values, and spiritual beliefs concerning protecting the environment with climate change behavioral intention. The participants represent a community sample of 335 people (183 women, 152 men; age: M = 37, SD = 14) on the island of Tongatapu who completed surveys assessing the constructs. Structural equation modeling shows four pathways to climate change behavioral intentions. In the first pathway, indigenous environmental knowledge, social norms, values, and spiritual beliefs each were associated with climate change knowledge, and climate change knowledge was associated with climate change behavioral intentions. The second, third, and fourth pathways show social media, values, and social norms were each directly associated with behavioral change intentions. The findings support and extend a psychological model of climate change behavioral adaptation. Implications of the findings are discussed.