Abstract
The purpose of this study is to understand the differentiated impact of politics- and science-oriented education on pro-environmental behavior among university students. A questionnaire was designed and sent to more than 14,000 university students from 152 universities in China using the snowball sampling method. In the questionnaire, the environmental knowledge was divided innovatively into two parts: Science-oriented knowledge spread by traditional environmental education and politics-oriented knowledge spread through political education. The structural equation model was used to understand the conduction path of pro-environmental knowledge, attitude, and behavior. It shows that politics-oriented knowledge has a quicker and stronger effect on improving behavior than science-oriented knowledge. Moreover, there is a significant positive correlation between science- and politics-oriented knowledge. However, the attitude is positively influenced by science-oriented knowledge, instead of politics-oriented knowledge. It suggests that traditional environmental education and political education should be integrated to promote the pro-environmental behavior of university students indirectly and directly, which may provide an opportunity for pro-environmental political education in other countries. The study contributes important theoretical and practical implications for environmental education and sustainable development.
Highlights
Previous studies have paid little attention to the mechanism of politics, which has played a significant role in environmental protection and needs to play an even greater role
The main contribution of this paper is to investigate the university students’ environmental knowledge in two groups, science-oriented knowledge (SOK) spread by traditional environmental education and politics-oriented knowledge (POK) spread through political education and compare their diverse effects on behavior
Based on China’s eco-environmental protection strategy in the new era, the proenvironmental knowledge of university students can be divided into science-oriented knowledge spread by traditional environmental education and politics-oriented knowledge spread through political education
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. With the global ecological and environmental crisis intensifying, more countries have formulated systematic environmental protection strategies and policies, designed environmental education programs, and encouraged the public’s pro-environmental behavior [1]. The motive behind the promotion of environmental protection by the states and political parties is both scientific and political. Many political parties have added “green policy”. To their programs and guided the sustainable development of society through political and ideological propaganda. Previous studies have paid little attention to the mechanism of politics, which has played a significant role in environmental protection and needs to play an even greater role
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