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Abstract
IntroductionAlthough there is evidence linking the relationships between smartphone usage with health, stress, and academic performance, there is still inadequate knowledge about the influence on pro-environmental behaviors. This study seeks to bridge this gap by adapting the theory of attribution framework to examine the effects of personal norms, social norms, perceived behavioral control on pro-environmental behavior of smartphone usage in children.MethodsA total of 225 children aged between 11 to 12 from eight selected public primary schools at the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park in Taiwan were surveyed. Two distinct groups (excessive versus moderate usage) were purposefully selected for comparison, of which 96 participants were excessive smartphone users while the remaining 129 were moderate smartphone users.ResultsFindings revealed significant differences between excessive and moderate smartphone usage children groups in personal norms (p < 0.001), social norms (p = 0.002), perceived behavioral control (p = 0.001), and pro-environmental behavior (p = 0.001). Findings for excessive smartphone usage children showed that social norms (β = 0.428, t = 4.096***, p < 0.001) had a direct predictive impact on pro-environmental behavior. In contrast, while there was no direct path established between personal norms and pro-environmental behavior (β = 0.177, t = 1.580, p > 0.05), as well as social norms and pro-environmental behavior for moderate smartphone usage children (β = 0.181, t = 1.924, p > 0.05), but such a relationship could be developed through the mediating effect of perceived behavioral control (β = 0.497, t = 4.471***, p < 0.001).DiscussionThe results suggested that excessive smartphone usage children lack positive perceived behavioral control, and their pro-environmental behavior could only be predicted through explicit social norms, whereas pro-environmental behavior of moderate smartphone usage children was implicitly influenced by personal norms through perceived behavioral control.
Highlights
There is evidence linking the relationships between smartphone usage with health, stress, and academic performance, there is still inadequate knowledge about the influence on pro-environmental behaviors
Significant differences were identified between grade five and grade six children in terms of their personal norms and perceived behavioral control
Significant differences between excessive smartphone usage group children and moderate smartphone usage group children were evident in personal norms, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and pro-environmental behavior
Summary
There is evidence linking the relationships between smartphone usage with health, stress, and academic performance, there is still inadequate knowledge about the influence on pro-environmental behaviors. The widespread use of smartphones is regarded as a factor influencing pro-environmental behavior, leading to disconnect people from the natural environment which has become substantial worldwide psychological and behavioral issues (Kadir, Mehmet & Abdullah, 2015; Lee et al, 2014; Chiang et al, 2019) While it remains controversial whether smartphone usage cause disconnectedness between people and natural environment (Fletcher, 2017; Miles, Zaheer & Mark, 2018), studies have found that adults who spent extended amount of time on smartphone in a day are more likely to exhibit a stronger negative proenvironmental behavior (Kesebir & Kesebir, 2017; Miles, Zaheer & Mark, 2018). Two groups of children (i.e., excessive smartphone usage group - more than two hours per day of smartphone usage, and moderate smartphone usage group - less than 2 h of smartphone usage per day) were purposefully selected for comparison
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