Social Attitudes as the Factors of Environmental Identity of Ukrainian and Turkish Students

Abstract

The problem of socio-psychological and cultural factors influencing environmental identity is considered. The results of a cross-cultural study of the relationship of such social attitudes as belief in a just world, individualism-collectivism, belief in the power of money, with environmental identity in groups of Ukrainian and Turkish students are presented. Differences in the environmental identity and social attitudes of students - representatives of Ukrainian and Turkish cultures are revealed. Turkish students differ from Ukrainian students by a more pronounced environmental identity. At the same time, in each cultural group, the indicators of environmental identity among female students are higher than those among male students. The differences between Turkish and Ukrainian female students are more pronounced than between Ukrainian and Turkish male students. Within the framework of the study as a whole, it is gender and cultural differences that are more significant predictors of environmental identity than the studied social attitudes. It was found that indicators of belief in a just world for others are higher for Turkish students than for Ukrainian students, while vertical individualism is higher in the group of Ukrainian students. Thus, Ukrainian students demonstrate a more pronounced commitment to an individualistic culture. The most closely related to the environmental identity of students, regardless of cultural influences, are the belief in a just world for all and belief in the power of money. If belief in general justice reinforces environmental identity and is reinforced by environmental identity, then belief in the power of money opposes to identification with the natural world. Based on the data from the sample as a whole, a regression model was built, which includes predictors: culture, gender, belief in the justice of the world for all, belief in the power of money. This model explains 34% of the total variance in environmental identity.