General Environmental Attitudes Research Articles

Environmental Worldview: A Case Study of Young People from Kosovo

Abstract Understanding attitudes towards the environment is important because they often determine behaviour that either increases or decreases environmental quality. In this article we investigate the environmental worldview of the young people from Kosovo. The New Revised Environmental Paradigm Scale or New Ecological Paradigm Scale, known as NEP Scale (Dunlap et al., 2000) was used. The study involved 330 young people age 18-20. 150 young people are from secondary schools, and other (180) are from some different faculties at the State University in Mitrovica. The mean score for the full NEP scale in this study was 3.48, which indicates a low endorsement of the NEP among the sample of Kosovo young people. The averages of the sub-dimensions varied between 3.08 (“Limits to growth”) and 3.73 (“Eco-crisis”). Like as others non-industrialized societies, young people from Kosovo tend to believe in the profound connection between humanity and nature, or there are no clear differences between pro-NEP and pro-DSP views. This study confirms the thesis that environmental worldviews differ across cultures. The mean value of the NEP Scale can be feasibly associated with various variables concerning general environmental attitudes. In order to discover the factors that create a pro-ecological orientation of young people in this country, additional researches are needed.

Advancing Environmental Health Literacy: Validated Scales of General Environmental Health and Environmental Media-Specific Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors.

Environmental health literacy (EHL) involves understanding and using environmental information to make decisions about health. This study developed a validated survey instrument with four scales for assessing media-specific (i.e., air, food, water) and general EHL. The four scales were created as follows: 1) item generation: environmental health scientists and statisticians developed an initial set of items in three domains: knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; 2) item review: items were reviewed for face validity; 3) validation: 174 public health students, the exploratory sample, and 98 community members, the test sample, validated the scales. The scales’ factor structure was based on exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and model fit was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). For each scale, the final EFA resulted in an independent three-factor solution for knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Good fit for the three-factor structure was observed. Model fit for CFA was generally confirmed with fit indices. The scales showed internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha from 0.63 to 0.70. The 42-item instrument represents an important contribution towards assessing EHL and is designed to enable meaningful engagement between researchers and community members about environmental health. The intended outcome is sustained community–academic partnerships benefiting research design, implementation, translation, dissemination, and community action.

Analyzing differences between different types of pro-environmental behaviors: Do attitude intensity and type of knowledge matter?

This study explores whether the associations between general environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors are heterogeneous and whether these associations depend on attitude intensity and the specific pro-environmental behavior. The study also examines the association between objective and subjective knowledge and behavior and the relationship with socioeconomic and personal characteristics. Mixed effects logistic regressions were performed using data from a representative nationwide survey of Spanish citizens aged 18 to 90 years (N = 2495). The results revealed interesting patterns of heterogeneity. First, only curtailment behaviors (separating trash and using street trash cans) were significantly associated with general environmental attitudes. This result was observed only for the highest level of environmental attitudes. Second, whereas subjective knowledge was associated with all pro-environmental behaviors, objective knowledge was only associated with efficiency behavior (using energy-efficient light bulbs). Finally, men showed lower levels of reported behavior than women for all pro-environmental activities. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Campus conservation initiatives: factors influencing student engagement, attitudes and behaviours

College campuses play a primary role in promoting and facilitating sustainability and pro-environmental behaviour. While many studies have focused on campus sustainability efforts, few have specifically focused on how students interact with campus conservation initiatives, factors that influence these interactions, and how interactions are related to attitudes and behaviours. The purpose of this study is to examine factors that influence student engagement with campus conservation initiatives, and the relationships between engagement, demographics, attitudes, and behaviours. Analyses revealed more similarities than differences between demographic groups, and the differences that were found were too small to be of practical importance. Of greater importance was the finding that student who had been exposed to conservation projects via a course or professor showed greater overall engagement and more frequent participation in pro-environmental behaviours. Path analyses suggest that student engagement with campus conservation initiatives and general environmental attitudes can be used to predict pro-environmental behaviours.

Campus conservation initiatives: factors influencing student engagement, attitudes and behaviours

College campuses play a primary role in promoting and facilitating sustainability and pro-environmental behaviour. While many studies have focused on campus sustainability efforts, few have specifically focused on how students interact with campus conservation initiatives, factors that influence these interactions, and how interactions are related to attitudes and behaviours. The purpose of this study is to examine factors that influence student engagement with campus conservation initiatives, and the relationships between engagement, demographics, attitudes, and behaviours. Analyses revealed more similarities than differences between demographic groups, and the differences that were found were too small to be of practical importance. Of greater importance was the finding that student who had been exposed to conservation projects via a course or professor showed greater overall engagement and more frequent participation in pro-environmental behaviours. Path analyses suggest that student engagement with campus conservation initiatives and general environmental attitudes can be used to predict pro-environmental behaviours.

Connectedness to Nature and Environmental Identity Scales Reveal Environmental Awareness in Greek Teachers

Core Ideas The present study measures Greek teachers' environmental identity, feeling of connectedness to nature, and environmental knowledge. Primary and secondary teachers are environmentally conscious, but they lack knowledge of fundamental concepts of environmental literacy. Effective environmental education in schools requires environmental literacy in teachers. Teachers are responsible to provide their students with knowledge, values, attitudes, and skills needed to preserve the environment in order to produce environmentally literate citizens. The latter is possible if teachers themselves have high levels of environmental knowledge, strong environmental awareness, and manifest environmental behavior. In response, this study aimed to assess Greek in‐service teachers' environmental knowledge, eco‐friendly behavior, and their connectedness to nature and environmental identity as aspects of their environmental consciousness. A self‐administered questionnaire was used to assess teachers' demographic profile, environmental knowledge, and self‐reported environmental behavior. Two well‐established measures of general environmental attitudes—connectedness to nature and environmental identity scales—were also used. The method lies on principal component analysis and evaluation of Cronbach's alpha to confirm the reliability and validity of the scales. The results showed that teachers' scores on both scales were high, revealing their positive attitudes in terms of the environment. Responders possess a moderate level of environmental knowledge and they possess pro‐environmental behavior. Results from this study can be useful to policy makers in order to design and promote the implementation of teachers' training programs in Greece and other countries of the European Union that focus on the enhancement of their environmental literacy.

‘Student Switch Off!’: how do university students respond to a corporate-sponsored pro-environmental social marketing campaign?

ABSTRACTSponsorship in pro-environmental social marketing campaigns has received limited academic attention within a higher education (HEI) context. This study examines how multi-level variables, i.e. individual (general environmental attitudes), organisational (scepticism toward the HEI’s environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives; perceived HEI behaviour) and campaign-related (attitudes toward the advertisement; attitudes toward the corporate sponsor) factors, influence university students’ environmental intentions in response to a corporate-sponsored environmental initiative; using mixed methods (231 surveys and 40 interviews). Questionnaires revealed that scepticism toward the HEI’s CSR initiatives led to less positive perceptions of the HEI’s environmental behaviour, which decreased positive attitudes toward the advertisement and environmental intentions. Interviews revealed that the corporate sponsor seemed to motivate environmental behavioural intentions due to product discounts related to the sponsorship. Thus, a corporate sponsor may have confounding effects on pro-environmental behaviour campaigns. This has implications for the use of sponsorship in environmental social marketing campaigns.

Promoting green residential buildings: Residents' environmental attitude, subjective knowledge, and social trust matter

The importance of psychological factors is increasingly being recognized in driving the green building (GB) movement. However, few empirical studies have gone deeper to explore specific psychological factors and their impacts on residents' acceptance of green labeled residential buildings (GLRBs). This study develops an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explain residents' intention to adopt GLRBs, and examine it in a survey (N = 342) conducted in Tianjin City, China. The results show that subjective knowledge about GLRBs, social trust in organizations responsible for GLRBs, perceived usefulness from GLRBs, attitude towards GLRBs, and general environmental attitude measured by the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, are the significant psychological determinants of intention to adopt GLRBs. It is also found that lacking subjective knowledge and social trust among our surveyed residents could be the psychological barriers to their acceptance of GLRBs. The psychological factors we identified provide references for policymakers to effectively develop residents' behavioral intervention strategies and allocate resources in GB promoting schemes. It is highly necessary to equip residents with more knowledge about GLRBs and improve their social trust in organizations responsible for delivering GLRBs.

Investigating Orchard Men's Behavioral Intentions of Dashtestan County toward Water Conservation Using Stern Value-Belief-Norm Theory

Investigating Orchard Men's Behavioral Intentions of Dashtestan County toward Water Conservation Using Stern Value-Belief-Norm Theory

Environmental attitudes and adventure tourism motivations

The natural environment plays an important role in adventure tourism. Specific environments are often necessary for certain types of adventure tourism and unique settings are seen to enhance the value of adventure tourism experiences. Given the importance of the environment in adventure tourism, the interplay between humans and the environment in this context should be given further attention. Although much research has examined the physical environmental impacts caused by specific activities considered adventure tourism, the impact of the environment on the behavior of adventure tourists has only briefly been touched upon. Environmental attitudes are said to be an indicator of environmentally conscious behavior. In the tourism context, however, conflicting results have been found as to whether or not environmental attitudes drive consumer behavior. Therefore, the manner in which environmental attitudes, using the New Environmental Paradigm scale, influence the motivations of participants in adventure tourism is investigated using the case of commercial adventure tourism in South Africa. The results show that the environmental attitudes of this group of tourists were relatively low and that the links between environmental attitudes and adventure tourism motivations are relatively weak. Therefore, the impact of general environmental attitudes on adventure tourist behavior is questionable.

Envisioning preferred environmental futures: exploring relationships between future-related views and environmental attitudes

The purpose of the study was to explore undergraduate students’ views about environmental futures that are preferred or desirable for them, and to further examine relationships between specific future-related views and general environmental attitudes. 96 students from one reputable public university in Taiwan participated in a survey that included a draw-and-explain task and a questionnaire. The analysis of students’ drawings and annotations revealed a number of topics that characterised their preferred environmental futures; green technology and elements of natural environment were the most prominent topics. Correlations revealed that (1) students who believe that their preferred environmental futures will happen tend to hold a positive view about techno-science as an influencing factor; (2) students who are more positive about techno-science tend to be less concerned about the environment. These findings re-emphasise the need for environmental and science teaching to integrate a critical futures perspective that aims to help students move away from technological fatalism and simply adjusting to the future towards a deeper understanding of sustainable futures and a sense of empowerment.

Digital Geogames to foster local biodiversity

Abstract The valuing of biodiversity is considered to be a first step towards its conservation. Therefore, the aim of the BioDiv2Go project is to combine sensuous experiences discovering biodiversity with mobile technology and a game-based learning approach. Following the competence model for environmental education (Roczen et al, 2014), Geogames (location based games on smartphones) for experiential outdoor learning activities are developed. The Finde Vielfalt Simulation (FVS) Geogame focuses on adolescent visitors of German youth hostels. The FVS-players are involved in a narrative keeping the traditions of their ancestors’ heritage as decisions are needed to balance biodiversity and economic success. They discover the natural environment and they solve location-based tasks at several places. If the players manipulate a simulation successfully they stand the test of the ancestors. The initial theoretical framework consists of the components biodiversity-related attitudes, behaviour and knowledge, general environmental behaviour and attitude towards nature. According to the Uses and Gratification Theory, the game-related enjoyment is added. For the assessment different scales were developed or adapted and tested for secondary-school children. The framework evolved stepwise through systematic expert hearings, interviews with the target group, participant observation as well as through an online survey. In a first step the situational interest was considered to be important for the valuing of biodiversity. The final version of the framework was used and validated within a pilot study with 180 secondary school students. The framework development was a highly transformative process engaging different actors, using complementary methodological approaches and integrating different disciplinary perspectives.

Comparing different attitude statements in latent class models of stated preferences for managing an invasive forest pathogen

To better interpret preference data, environmental economists often measure two different types of attitudes: general environmental attitudes, and attitudes specific to an issue. Although methods such as joint latent class modeling can relate these measures to stated preference data, economics literature offers limited guidance on important details, including the relative merits of the two attitude types. This paper analyzes survey data about the management of the invasive, non-native fungus that causes the lethal disease white pine blister rust in high-elevation forests, a problem characterized by long time scales and potentially costly interventions of uncertain efficacy. The paper uses novel techniques for comparing across latent class model specifications to evaluate the relative contribution of general and specific attitude measures to the analysis of contingent valuation data. These demonstrate insights from investigating heterogeneity in respondents' perspectives and superior model performance with specific attitude statements versus with general attitude statements. In addition to the practical content, these results offer novel insight into ongoing debate on the meaning of stated preference valuation measures.

Climate change beliefs and hazard mitigation behaviors: homeowners and wildfire risk

Downscaled climate models provide projections of how climate change may exacerbate the local impacts of natural hazards. The extent to which people facing exacerbated hazard conditions understand or respond to climate-related changes to local hazards has been largely overlooked. In this article, we examine the relationships among climate change beliefs, environmental beliefs, and hazard mitigation actions in the context of wildfire, a natural hazard projected to be intensified by climate change. We find that survey respondents are situated across a continuum between being ‘believers’ and ‘deniers’ that is multidimensional. Placement on this believer–denier spectrum is related to general environmental attitudes. We fail, however, to find a relationship between climate change beliefs and wildfire risk-reduction actions in general. In contrast, we find a statistically significant positive relationship between level of wildfire risk mitigation and being a climate denier. Further, certain pro-environmental attitudes are found to have a statistically significant negative association with the level of wildfire risk mitigation.

A Mediation Model of Air Travelers’ Voluntary Climate Action

This study developed a behavioral model of intentions to purchase aviation carbon offsets, and tested the model through structural equation models. The model draws on the established hierarchical models of human behavior to hypothesize relationships between general and specific attitudes as predictors of offsetting intentions. The New Ecological Paradigm scale, the theory of planned behavior and variables from past literature were employed to measure general environmental attitudes, intermediate beliefs, and behavior-specific attitudes and norms. The current research represents a first attempt to build a theoretical model that helps to understand the relationships between factors that determine whether people will purchase aviation carbon offsets. The results show that a more positive orientation toward the environment could be an important predictor of environmental intentions operating both directly on intentions as well as guiding beliefs that relate to intentions. Policy implications of the findings are discussed, encouraging greater voluntary climate action.

English

Gaining public support for management actions is important to the success of public land management agencies' efforts to protect threatened and endangered species. This is especially relevant at national parks, where managers balance two aspects of their conservation mission: to protect resources and to provide for public enjoyment. This study examined variables potentially associated with support for management actions at Cape Lookout National Seashore, a unit of the National Park Service. Two visitor surveys were conducted at the park at different seasons, and a resident survey was conducted for households in Carteret County, North Carolina, where the park is located. The goal of the project was to provide park managers with information that may help with the development of communication strategies concerning the park's conservation mission. These communication strategies may help to facilitate mutual understanding and garner public support for management actions. Several variables were examined as potential determinants that park managers ought to consider when developing communication strategies. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to examine the relationships between these variables and the likelihood of support for or opposition to management actions. The variables examined included perceived shared values of park resources, general environmental attitudes, level of familiarity with park resources and regulations, knowledge about threatened and endangered species, level of trust in the decision-making process, and perceived shared values with park management. In addition, demographic variables such as income level, respondent age, residency status, and visitor type were also used. The results show that perceived values of threatened and endangered species, trust in park managers and the decision-making process, and perceived share values with park managers were among the strongest indicators of support for management actions. Different user groups also exhibited different levels of support, with groups engaged in specialized recreation activities (fishers) being the most likely to oppose management actions. While our findings are not surprising, they corroborate past research that has shown an effective communications strategy should be customized to target different audiences. In addition, management should focus on developing long-term relationships that build trust in and foster credibility of decision-making processes.

The Campbell Paradigm as a Conceptual Alternative to the Expectation of Hypocrisy in Contemporary Attitude Research

Hypocrisy—professing a general attitude without implementing corresponding attitude-relevant behavior—is, according to Ajzen and Fishbein (2005), commonly found in attitude research that aims to explain individual behavior. We conducted two studies that adopted the Campbell paradigm, an alternative to the traditional understanding of attitudes. In a laboratory experiment, we found that specific attitude-relevant cooperation in a social dilemma was a function of people’s pre-existing general environmental attitude. In a quasi-experiment, we corroborated the reverse as well; engagement in attitude-relevant dietary practices was indicative of environmental attitude. When using Campbellian attitude measures, there is no room for hypocrisy: People put their general attitudes into specific attitude-relevant practices, and differences in people’s general attitudes can be derived from their attitude-relevant behavior.

Beliefs about Ecological Impacts Predict Deer Acceptance Capacity and Hunting Support

Ecological impacts of deer overbrowsing often lead resource managers to recommend deer control through hunting, which may be strongly opposed by local residents. Adaptive impact management argues that understanding wildlife impacts of concern to the public can improve wildlife management. However, research on public wildlife acceptance capacity for deer, and on support for hunting, has emphasized concerns about household impacts and deer well-being, general environmental beliefs and attitudes, and beliefs about consequences of hunting, but not public concerns about deer ecological impacts. Our survey of neighbors of urban wetlands shows that beliefs about deer ecological impacts are statistically significant predictors of deer acceptance capacity and of support for hunting, controlling for other factors. Including ecological-impact beliefs adds substantially to the explained variance in deer acceptance capacity, and slightly to the explained variance in support for hunting.

Testing and validation of a hierarchical values-attitudes model in the context of green food in China

Purpose– Values-attitudes hierarchical models are quite frequent in the consumer behaviour literature. In attitudinal models specific to food produced in an environmentally friendly way (i.e. “green” food), past research evidence mainly originating in Western cultures posits that the strongest path of the model can be found among collectivistic consumer values, general environmental attitudes, and attitudes specific to green food. On the other hand, in non-Western cultures (i.e. China), green food (e.g. organic) is perceived by consumers as safer to consume. With this as point of departure, the present paper aims to examine whether attitudes towards green food in a values-attitudes model in China are determined as postulated in past Western research.Design/methodology/approach– A “typical” (i.e. Western research evidence-based) values-attitudes hierarchical model was developed and a questionnaire comprising 34 items reflecting the conceptual model was designed. Data collection was focused on six major Chinese cities, as this is where the current changes in eating habits are predominantly taking place. Data were collected by personal interviews conducted by local researchers between January and March 2009 through a mall-intercept method. A total number of 479 respondents were recruited, equally distributed among the six cities.Findings– Collectivistic values and environmental attitudes were still found to be strong determinants of Chinese consumers' attitudes towards green foods; contrary to relevant Western findings, however, collectivism also influenced technological attitudes; which, in turn, influenced attitudes towards green food jointly with environmental attitudes. These findings point to the conclusion that Chinese consumers, possibly guided by altruistic predispositions, see technology as a positive determinant of both food safety and environmental friendliness in food production. Empirical findings like these highlight the need for adaptation of well-substantiated models to completely customised research approaches within new globally rising environments.Originality/value– It is still not quite clear how green food products are perceived in South-East Asian consumer cultures, as well as in other non-Western contexts. This scarcity makes the empirical examination of well-established values-attitudes hierarchies in such contexts valuable from an academic and practitioner's point of view.

Bases of Support Differ for Deer Reduction Versus Behavior Change Options to Manage Deer Impacts

Research on urban deer management has used bivariate analysis of public support for options. Multiple regression analyses tested predictors of support for deer reduction options (hunting; contraception; removal; no action or “letting nature take its course”) and willingness to change one's own behavior (self-protection; yard re-planting; planting native plants). Deer reduction support correlated with wanting fewer deer and opinions about hunting's and no-action's effects; behavior-change support correlated with distrust of government, general environmental attitudes, and beliefs about deer impacts. Variations occurred for specific options (e.g., belief in no action increased with beliefs that nature lacked negative effects and reduced deer numbers; seeing global extinction as a problem and political liberalism favored native-species planting). Controlling for other variables, women supported hunting more and no action less than men, reversing prior bivariate findings. Multivariate analysis thus showed hitherto unobserved differences in the basis of support for deer reduction versus behavior change.