Razvijanje ekološke pismenosti i ekološkog identiteta učenika - koliko su "zeleni" nastavni programi u Srbiji, Sloveniji i Finskoj

Emotions can be important triggers of a variety of behaviors, including pro-environmental behavior. However, relationships between affect and pro-environmental behavior are so far not well understood, and a very limited amount of previous research has examined the dynamic relationship between affect and pro-environmental behavior in people’s daily lives. Such research is necessary as it has the potential to contribute to theories of pro-environmental behavior by showing that daily affect matters for pro-environmental behavior. It also can inform practice by showing how pro-environmental behavior may be more successfully encouraged. The overarching aim of this thesis is to examine links between everyday affective experiences and pro-environmental behavior. The three main Research Questions are: How do daily affective experiences relate to daily pro-environmental behavior? Are different types of daily affective experiences related to different types of daily pro-environmental behaviors? Do daily affective experiences interact with more stable characteristics of the individual (i.e., pro-environmental attitude) and perceived context (i.e., social norms) in relation to pro-environmental behavior? Chapter 2 reviews traditional approaches to understanding pro-environmental behavior and introduces a novel multilevel perspective on pro-environmental behavior with a focus on temporally stable and fluctuating aspects of, and factors relating to, pro-environmental behavior. This chapter presents a range of topics that could be researched by applying such a perspective, with relationships between affect and pro-environmental behavior included as one potential topic. It is argued that people’s pro-environmental behavior and affective experiences vary from day to day and, thus, should be conceptualized and operationalized accordingly. Chapter 2 advocates the use of daily diary and experience sampling methodologies in order to capture the dynamic relationship between affect and pro-environmental behavior as it occurs in people’s everyday lives. Chapter 3 applies the multilevel perspective introduced in Chapter 2 to investigate the relationship between daily affect and pro-environmental behavior in the work place. Specifically, Chapter 3 examines daily activated positive affect (i.e., feeling enthusiastic and excited) and unactivated positive affect (i.e., feeling calm and relaxed) in relation to daily task-related pro-environmental behavior (i.e., the extent to which employees complete required work tasks in environmentally-friendly ways) and daily proactive pro-environmental behavior (i.e., the extent to which employees show personal initiative when acting in environmentally-friendly ways at work). Pro-environmental attitude is examined as a moderator of these relationships. Using a daily diary study design (N = 56; 910 daily entries), this study demonstrates that daily unactivated positive affect and pro-environmental attitude positively predict daily task-related pro-environmental behavior. It also shows that daily activated positive affect positively predicts daily proactive pro-environmental behavior among employees with a less positive pro-environmental attitude, but not among employees with a more positive pro-environmental attitude. This study is the first to examine the relationships between affect and pro-environmental behavior in everyday life. Chapter 4 builds upon the previous chapter by extending the generalizability of the previous study’s findings to outside of the work place. A daily diary study is used to examine the role of a different between-person moderator, perceived social norms, on the relationships between daily affective experiences and pro-environmental behavior (N = 94; 1,148 daily entries). This chapter shows that unactivated positive affect and pro-environmental social norms are positively related to basic pro-environmental behavior (i.e., pro-environmental behavior that is carried out more easily and may be a matter of habit; similar to task-related pro-environmental behavior), and activated positive affect is positively related to proactive pro-environmental behavior. In addition, pro-environmental social norms are shown to moderate the relationship between unactivated positive affect and basic pro-environmental behavior, such that this relationship is stronger when pro-environmental social norms are less positive. Chapter 5 uses an experience sampling study (N = 96; 1,152 daily entries) to examine the relationships between two specific emotions, pride and guilt about environmental behavior (as opposed to more diffuse feelings of positive affect felt during the day as in the previous two chapters), and pro-environmental behavior. As in Chapter 4, pro-environmental social norms are examined as a moderator. This chapter shows that, within a short time period, engagement in pro-environmental behavior is positively related to pride and negatively related to guilt. It also shows that pride about environmental behavior is positively related to subsequent engagement in pro-environmental behavior (i.e., pro-environmental behavior measured during the following short time period), but only for people who perceive more positive pro-environmental descriptive norms. This thesis provides the first evidence that different types of daily affective experiences are related to different types of daily pro-environmental behavior, and that daily affective experiences interact with more stable characteristics of the individual (i.e., pro-environmental attitude) and perceptions of the context (i.e., social norms) in relation to pro-environmental behavior. Implications for future research on the complex associations between daily affective experiences and pro-environmental behavior are discussed. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that pro-environmental behavior theory and research should consider the everyday, dynamic links between affect and pro-environmental behavior.

Extending the knowledge-attitude-practice model to exploring the role of environmental literacy in shaping ecotourists' pro-environmental behavior.

Organized activities in adolescence and pro-environmental behaviors in adulthood: The mediating role of pro-environmental attitudes.

Environmental education is important in the face of the climate crisis. Although previous studies suggest that knowledge could boost pro-environmental attitudes, behavioural change is complex and may go beyond knowledge acquisition. Previous research highlighted biospheric and altruistic values as motivational factors related to pro- environmental behaviour (PEB). Video-based education has arisen as an accessible environmental learning medium. Video-sharing platforms offer accurate educational videos, although, it is unclear if they can increase knowledge, PEB or change attitudes. An online experiment randomly allocated 72 students in two conditions to watch an informational video on climate change, with one condition engaging in a values clarification task. Participants completed questionnaires on environmental attitudes, PEB, environmental self-efficacy and knowledge. Cross-correlations indicated complex inter-relationships and a non-significant relationship between knowledge and PEB at baseline. The values clarification task did not offer an advantage on PEB or pro-environmental attitudes. Both conditions experienced increases in knowledge, indicating that watching an educational video on climate change contributes to knowledge acquisition. The findings highlight complex mechanisms involved in increasing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. The study was part of the project “Be the Change: Innovative Higher Education for Environmental Sustainability,” co-funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union (Project number: 2022-1-SE01- KA220-HED-000087275).

Previous studies have shown that materialism is related to environmentalism, but unstable findings still exist. To clarify the relationships between materialism and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, the present study addressed some methodological issues and provided both individual- and regional-level evidence from China. Using data from the World Value Survey and the Chinese General Social Survey, we observed that materialism was negatively associated with pro-environmental attitudes (Study 1, n = 2,300; Study 2, n = 3,672) and pro-environmental behaviors (Study 2). Moreover, we found that pro-environmental attitudes partially mediated the association between materialism and pro-environmental behaviors in Study 2. We further searched for additional regional evidence in Study 3, and we found that the more materialistic regions are, the more energy is consumed. Results indicate that materialism is associated with decreases in pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the research findings.

The recognition of the key role and moral responsibility of higher education institutions (HEIs) in cultivating the environmental literacy (EL) of their students is growing globally. The current research examined the contribution of HEIs to their students’ EL by focusing on an Israeli college as a case-study. A survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1147 students from all departments in four phases of their academic studies. A moderate level of EL was found. The college’s green agenda attracted more pre-environmentally literate students, but its contribution to the development of students’ EL throughout the learning years was minor. Variation in pro-environmental behavior was better explained by students’ environmental values and attitudes than by their environmental knowledge. It seems that a combination of knowledge, values, and attitudes is needed in order to instill EL among students in HEIs. Commitment to environmental education must be translated into effective contents (what) and ways of teaching and learning (how) EL, which should be adapted to the varied populations of HEIs’ students in the various faculties and departments. Some recommendations are detailed.

Using the context of luxury eco-cottages, this study draws on positive psychology to investigate how guests might be encouraged to engage in on-site pro-environmental behaviours. Based on a survey of pro-environmental behaviours and attitudes of 145 tourists, open-ended responses were analysed for the presence of character strengths and tested against responses to pro-environmental attitudes, intentions and behaviours. Results indicate that tourists who displayed character strengths were more likely to report engaging in pro-environmental behaviours or hold pro-environmental attitudes. Furthermore, some character strengths, e.g. curiosity, judgement, social intelligence, self-regulation, hope and citizenship, were more prevalent in the analysis. We conclude that tourism experiences designed to appeal to specific character strengths can encourage tourists to adopt pro-environmental behaviours.

Research in environmental education adopts a broad concept of environmental literacy, recognizing the multifaceted nature that encompasses cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. However, minimal research has examined how these components interact with each other across various cities. The present study aims to fill this gap by investigating the interplay between the components of environmental literacy, such as affiliation with nature, environmental knowledge, and environmental behavior. More importantly, the study explores how these relationships vary across different cities that differ in sustainable development levels. Children (N = 979, M age = 11.13) from 29 cities in China completed measures of affiliation with nature, environmental literacy, and pro-environmental behavior (PEB). We classified the cities into high versus low sustainable development levels using the Low-Carbon and Green Index – a comprehensive measure of sustainable development, including energy consumption, carbon emissions, and public policy. A moderated mediation analysis revealed that environmental knowledge mediated the relation between affiliation with nature and PEB only in cities with higher sustainable levels. As a result, environmental education should be tailored to a city’s sustainable development level to better encourage pro-environmental behavior.

BackgroundThis study explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated stories that blend art and science on the development of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors in preschoolers. AI-generated stories represent an innovative educational tool that leverages technology to create engaging, inclusive, and educational narratives. These stories can introduce young children to complex environmental concepts, fostering both cognitive understanding and emotional engagement with nature.HypothesesThe research examines three key hypotheses: (1) enjoyment of AI-generated stories will positively influence preschoolers’ pro-environmental behavior, (2) enjoyment of AI-generated stories will positively influence preschoolers’ environmental sensitivity, and (3) environmental sensitivity will mediate the relationship between story enjoyment and pro-environmental behavior.MethodsThe study included a total sample of 120 Chinese preschoolers from Upper Kindergarten (大班) in Jiangmen City. Initially, children were introduced to AI-generated stories. After listening to the stories, their level of enjoyment was assessed. At the second time point, environmental sensitivity was measured through a game. At the third and final time point, children’s pro-environmental behavior was assessed through a task designed to evaluate their actions and attitudes related to environmental conservation.ResultsFindings from this study suggest that preschoolers who enjoy AI-generated stories are more likely to display pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, such as recycling and conserving resources. Furthermore, environmental sensitivity—a personal trait characterized by an emotional and cognitive connection to nature—was found to be a significant mediator in this relationship. Children who exhibit higher levels of environmental sensitivity are more likely to internalize the environmental messages embedded in the stories, translating enjoyment into meaningful, real-world actions.DiscussionBy combining the creative elements of storytelling with scientific content, AI-generated stories have the potential to become a powerful tool for fostering environmental awareness and responsibility in young children, contributing to the formation of environmentally responsible behaviors in future generations.

The present study is designed to test how immersion, presence, and narrative content (with a focus on emotional immersion) can affect one's pro-environmental attitude and behavior with specific interest in 360° videos and meat consumption as a non pro-environmental behavior. This research describes a between-group design experiment that compares two systems with different levels of immersion and two types of narratives, one with and one without emotional content. In the immersive video (IV) condition (high immersion), 21 participants used a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) to watch an emotional 360° video about meat consumption and its effects on the environment; another 21 participants experienced the tablet condition (low immersion) where they viewed the same video but with a 10.1 inch tablet; 22 participants in the control condition viewed a non emotional video about submarines with an HMD. The purpose of the experiment was to test the effect of presence and emotional impact on pro-environmental attitude and behavior. In a questionnaire, self-reported measurements were used to address presence, emotional impact and pro-environmental attitude, while an unobtrusive method evaluated pro-environmental behavior. The results showed that both immersion and emotional impact enhance self-reported presence; higher immersion and emotional impact enhanced pro-environmental attitude; narrative content and emotional immersion (i.e., personal attachment to the characters) enhanced pro-environmental behavior. Higher immersion appeared to increase pro-environmental behavior but not significantly.

The influence of cultural values on pro-environmental behavior

Research has found a gap between pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours that has not been understood yet. While studies have highlighted the important role of the cost/benefit evaluation, most of these studies did not consider emotional factors in this evaluation. We aimed to assess the role of emotional factors (i.e., empathy and emotional regulation) in the association between pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. Specifically, we aimed to verify whether the non-acceptance of own negative emotions could moderate the relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours in a sample of corporate employees. We assessed pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, empathy and emotional regulation in N = 1,432 Italian employees. Findings showed that the sample was divided into two clusters based on their levels of empathy and emotional dysregulation. Employees with high cognitive emotion functions showed more pro-environmental behaviours than employees with high affective emotion functions. Furthermore, results showed the partial moderation role of non-acceptance in the pro-environmental attitude–behaviour relationship. Important implications in implementing intervention programmes are discussed.

Modern way of living has brought many different problems referring to living environment such as climate changes, shortage of available natural resources, changing in functioning of the most important natural processes etc. which has begun dangerous for living of the human kind. On the other side, technology, economy, society have their own interest. Sustainable development has emerged based on the need for making optimal interaction between mentioned systems. One of the basic elements which is referring on the human being is development of the ecological identity. There are several connected terms, like biophilia, naturalistic intelligence, ecological identity and all of them are related to the special type of connection with nature which is characterized by loving nature, positive attitudes to it and having the consciousness of the importance of nature and living environment in the aim of surviving of human beings. This also includes development of ecological consciousness, ecological literacy and ecological ethics which should be incorporated in ecological identity. Development of the ecological identity is unfolding in the educational process, especially in the process of socialization which begins from the earliest period in one`s life and lasts through the whole life. The goal of this article is to analyze the role of education in forming of ecological identity and its consequences on decision making process about pro-environmental behaviors in making efforts for achieving of the goals of the sustainable development.

There is growing evidence of the power of the affective dimensions for pro-environmental behavior, as well as of existing gaps between the dimensions of learning outcomes in recent environmental education literature. Based on the need to address that gap, this article explores the integration of the cognitive (ecological knowledge and cognitive skills), the affective and the behavioral domain in the learning outcomes of subjects related to the environment within Serbian elementary and general secondary education. This analysis was performed on the second cycle of the elementary school curricula and the general secondary education curricula for the following compulsory subjects: biology, chemistry and geography. It uses the holistic framework of EE goals, as defined by the Tbilisi Declaration as well as the concept of environmental literacy, as defined by the authors of the National Environmental Literacy Assessment used in the US, which distinguish four components of environmental literacy: ecological knowledge, cognitive skills, environmental affects and pro-environmental behavior. The results clearly show the dominance of the cognitive when compared with the affective and behavioral dimensions in both primary and secondary education. The focus of education on measurable outcomes offers firm structure for planning and evaluation, but underestimates the importance of preferences, values, enjoyment and does not facilitate rewarding the main source of pro-environmental behavior. Starting from the holistic and whole school approach to environmental education, the authors re-emphasize the need to bridge the existing gap and to provide policy support to teachers in developing their own as well as students’ environmental engagement and resilience.

The livestock industry has numerous and diverse impacts on the environment. In a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire, 361 students were asked about their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to the environmental impact caused by livestock industry. The data were analyzed using correlations, t-tests for independent samples, and linear regression models. We found that students have almost no knowledge about the environmental impact of the food they consume, their attitudes are moderately pro-environmental, yet they are not strict about pro-environmental behavior. Students with higher levels of environmental knowledge demonstrated more pro-environmental attitudes and behavior; attitudes mediate the relationship between level of knowledge and behavior with respect to environmental pollution caused by the livestock industry. In addition, participants that rear/reared animals demonstrated more knowledge and pro-environmental attitudes and behavior, and women demonstrated more pro-environmental attitudes and behavior than men. There is a need to raise awareness of the environmental and health impacts caused by livestock industry. An introductory course on environmental science should be integrated into different academic study programs. Further research should be conducted among additional population sectors.