The relationships between values, belief, personal norms, and climate conserving behaviors of Malaysian primary school students

Abstract

Abstract Climate change is a daunting phenomenon that requires serious and urgent attention from various stakeholders. The severity of the extreme weather changes has urged the weather and climate to be an integral part of mainstream education. However, the aim of the contemporary climate change education in cultivating behavioral change is in vain. This is because the physiological concerns that explain the behavior were ignored in designing the curriculum. This notion has prompted the researcher to determine the relationship between values, belief, personal norms, and climate change behaviors and subsequently model the climate conservation behaviors. For this purpose, a survey questionnaire was administered to 300 Year 5 and Year 6 primary school students. The questionnaire consisted of items measured on values, belief, personal norms, and climate conserving behaviors. The data was then analyzed using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation approach. The findings revealed that there were significant positive relationships between values and belief; values and personal norms; values and behavior; belief and personal norms; belief and behaviors; and personal norms and behaviors. The Goodness of Fit index indicated that the overall model has excellent exploratory power in comparison to the baseline values. The model offers a guide in designing climate change curriculum and training the teachers in teaching about climate change in primary schools.