Abstract
<p style="text-align:justify">Energy literacy is a minimum required capacity for developing a sustainable society that participates in and discusses on energy and environmental (EE) issues. Understanding the energy literacy structure is of significant importance for providing effective energy education to promote people’s awareness of EE issues. In this article, an energy literacy structural model integrated with the Theory of Planned Behavior and Value-Belief-Norm Theory was investigated for 1070 lower secondary students (ages 13-15) in Japan. Structural equation modeling uncovered that the awareness of consequences is the most powerful predictor for the causality between basic energy knowledge and energy-saving behavior through the attitude toward the energy-saving behavior. A conditional process analysis elucidated that (1) the conditional effect of basic energy knowledge on the awareness of consequences depends on scientific literacy, critical thinking ability, and environmental worldview, and (2) the conditional direct and indirect effects in the mediation model of awareness of consequences on the attitude toward energy-saving behavior through the ascription of responsibility depend on environmental worldview or values and family discussion of energy-related issues. The energy literacy model proposed provides a theoretical contribution to the development of an effective energy education program.</p>
Highlights
It is necessary for human society to perceive the irreversible threat of climate change and make efforts to reduce greenhouse gases emissions through international cooperation (COP21)
In response to our previous report, which suggested the importance of awareness of consequences in linking between the basic energy knowledge and energy-saving behavior, we examined the interaction of moderator on the following two causal relations: (1) the simple moderation model between basic energy knowledge and awareness of consequences and (2) the mediation model between awareness of consequences and attitude toward the behavior through the ascription of responsibility
The female students scored significantly higher than the males on the basic energy knowledge, awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility, and personal norm (BEK: Male 46%, Female 56%, p < .001; AC: Male 79%, Female 81%, p < .005; AR: Male 75%, Female 77%, p < .01), while the males achieved higher scores than the females on the subjective norm and critical thinking ability (SN: Male 63%, Female 61%, p < .05; Critical thinking ability (CTA): Male 65%, Female 64%, p < .05)
Summary
It is necessary for human society to perceive the irreversible threat of climate change and make efforts to reduce greenhouse gases emissions through international cooperation (COP21). One of the greatest potential resources for meeting the global energy challenges is the citizens’ energy literacy (DeWaters and Powers, 2011; DOE). DeWaters & Powers (2007, 2013) have defined energy literacy in terms of three domains: cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitudes and values), and behavioral. Energy education aims at cultivating a well-informed public with positive attitudes and behaviors toward global EE issues. Many studies on energy literacy have reported little correlation between EE knowledge and energy-saving behavior (e.g., Ajzen, Joyce, Sheikh & Cote, 2011; Chen, Chou, Yen & Chao, 2015; Craig & Allen, 2015; DeWaters & Powers, 2011; Hu, Horng, Teng & Yen, 2013; Jurin & Fox-Parrish, 2008; Lee, Lee, Altschuld & Pan, 2015). The amount of knowledge does not alone lead to the altering of people’s behaviors and lifestyles toward energy-saving, nor does it affect the attitude-behavioral consistency (e.g., Gifford & Nilsson, 2014; Leeuw, Valois, Ajzen & Schmidt, 2015; Ntona, Arabatzis & Kyriakopoulos, 2015; Stern, 2011)
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