A Structural Equation Modeling to explain school students' intentions to use bioenergy: An Indian case

Abstract

The study applied the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model to predict high school students' intentions to use bioenergy in India. TPB is one of the most widely cited and applied theories in explaining human behaviors in environmental matters. In the TPB model, intention to act is primarily determined by three psychological constructs: Attitude towards the behavior, Subjective Norm (SN) and Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC). Data were collected from 130 students studying in ninth and tenth grades in three schools in New Delhi and Bengaluru. The mean age of the students was 14.66 years (SD=0.76). Structural Equation Modeling with Amos 21 software was used in the study. The constructed TPB model was able to explain 71% (R2=.71) of the variance in the students' intentions to use bioenergy. The structural model also showed overall acceptable fit to the data. It appeared that SN was the only independent variable that had the strongest and statistically significant positive impact on the Indian students' intentions to use bioenergy. Other independent variables such as Attitude and PBC showed insignificant and negligible effects on the students' intentions to use bioenergy. The results indicated that social factors would be the main determinant of the Indian students' intentions to use bioenergy, whereas the personal factors (i.e. Attitude and PBC) would be irrelevant. Findings from the study could be useful for bioenergy policy makers and researchers in the field of environmental psychology.