Ecological value orientations and readiness for activism in Serbia

Abstract

The global environmental crisis, caused by the unreasonable behavior of human beings and their economic activities that affect nature and its resources, has created a basis for the development of new environmental paradigm, which emphasizes the intrinsic value of nature, the close connection between society and the environment and the importance of their mutual influence. Changing the view of the world becomes a necessary step in establishing the optimum of the inter­play between humans and the natural environment. Environmental knowledge is the most primary element of environmental awareness. The indispensable outcome of environmental awareness is ecological behavior that should be developed and encouraged. The formation of desirable behavior affect environmental objective and subjective factors. Objective factors are, for example, environmental conditions (degree of degradation of eco-system), socio-ecological infrastructure, the level of technological development. The subjective factors important for ecological behav­ior includes attitudes, expectations, political affiliation, personal and social values. For psychology, of particular importance are the values that support the behavior oriented towards environmental protection. This research examined the ecological value orientation and willingness to ecological involvement of students from the three groups of faculties: for mining and geology, for geography (environmental department), and faculties of social orientation (economic, law, philosophy . . . ). The results showed that the respondents have a well-developed environmental values that are a prerequisite for pro-environmental behavior and activities that leads to protection of the environment. Thus, the students were pretty much willing to engage in activities such as recycling various materials, use of public transportation and take other measures that contribute to a sustainable lifestyle.