“Do Big Hands Guide Small Hands?” or “do Small Hands Guide Big Hands”: The intergenerational interactions in environmental behaviors and family influencing factors

Abstract

Families' large pollution and energy consumption cannot be underestimated. In order to realize and internalize environmental awareness as a social consensus, it is imperative for every member of a household to be involved in transforming everyday behavior. Intergenerational interactions are of paramount importance. Accordingly, the focus of this study was on parent-adolescent interactions, their reciprocal impact on environmental behaviors, and the factors that have an influence on these processes. Questionnaires were employed to collect information of 684 families in 10 districts of Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. Subsequently, interviews were conducted with 15 of these families to comprehend the tangible reasons underlying intergenerational interactions in environmental behaviors. First, a paired sample T-test was employed to compare the frequency of these interactions. The data showed that while the T values were positive in all eight compared groups, there were significant differences in seven of them. These results suggest that the impact of intergenerational interactions on environmental behaviors is not symmetrical: parents' instructions are far more frequent than adolescents' back-feeding of ecological notions. The interviews revealed that this phenomenon was generated primarily by unequal experiences between parents and adolescents because the latter do not participate in housework and family projects. Furthermore, the traditional concept of intergenerational order appears to be permanent. Second, two linear regression models, a Parent-to-Adolescent model and an Adolescent-to-Parent model that encompassed several factors including family structure, intergenerational relationships, living environment, and families' social class were developed. Among these factors, the intergenerational relationship variable played a particularly significant role: the more equal and open-minded dialogs are incorporated into parent-adolescent communication, the more favorable interactions may occur for development of their environmental behaviors. Thus, when an environmental education system with families is constructed, it is imperative to promote a parent's ecological awareness with the help of grass-roots organizations by means of reasonable rewards and punishments to redress their former behaviors so as to let Big Hands Guide Small Hands. It is also crucial to enhance a more equal intergenerational relationship through parents' schooling or other relevant services so as to create a favorable atmosphere for Small Hands Guide Big Hands.