The Role of Age, Education and Impulsivity in Water Consumption; the Importance of Personality Traits in Correcting Patterns of Water Consumption by Designing Sustainable Products

Abstract

The water crisis is one of the main challenges facing humanity, especially in countries with low rainfall, such as Iran. It has been shown that socio-cultural factors can affect the patterns of water consumption among households. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between three factors, i.e. impulsivity, monthly income and educational level on water consumption in Urmia urban class families. 21 urban households were selected based on cluster sampling and their average monthly water consumption, education level, and monthly income was measured. Furthermore, the average impulsivity of each family was evaluated using the Barratt impulsivity scale 11 (BIS-11). In order to investigate the relationship between water consumption and educational level, income and impulsivity, Pearson correlation coefficient and the significance level of 0.05 were used. The total average monthly income of the families was 1,739,705.88±429904.43 Tomans. All participants were literate. The total average water consumption was 157.10±32.24 liters of water per person. The total mean score of the BIS-11 was 50.62±6.72. Correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship between water consumption and impulsivity. The results of this study show the importance of education in changing the pattern of water consumption as well as considering the behavioral characteristics in the education process and designing products for optimal water consumption