Pro-environmental Attitudes Research Articles

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS INFLUENCING PRO-ENVIROMENTAL ATTITUDES IN CHILDREN

One of the main requirements of modern society, and for the sake of its survival, is the formation of socially responsible behavior towards the greatly endangered environment. Every day we are faced with the problems of pollution, global warming, depletion of the ozone layer and many others. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to influence the youngest generations to develop attitudes that will develop a high awareness of the need to protect nature and how to treat it. In this sense, today, and for the sake of the future, we must actively work on the development of pro-environmental attitudes in children, which would manifest themselves in pro-environmental behavior tomorrow. The development of this cognitive component, that is, the attitude requires the society to instil in the child knowledge about nature, its benefits, but also its demands and the inseparability of man from it, which affects the child's affective relationship towards it, the feeling of attachment to the environment that becomes an integral part of values. With their conative component, attitudes also initiate individuals to act. This especially necessary during the current COVID-19 pandemic and the unresolved question of the origin of the virus. Was it created artificially in laboratories or is it of natural origin, as nature's response to man's relationship to it. Some studies show that children in the first grades of elementary school understand the phenomenon of environmental pollution, they even know about different types of pollution, but they still do not understand the causes of these events. Therefore, although there is not much research dealing with this problem, we consider it important to analyse current knowledge about the psychological factors influencing the development of pro-environmental attitudes in children.

On the relationships linking intrinsic and extrinsic sense of freedom with pro-environmental attitudes. Synergic and buffering effects of the identification with all humanity.

This study aimed to examine whether the individual way of understanding freedom is related to pro-environmental attitudes. This idea has not been studied before. In the paper, the authors examined whether understanding freedom as extrinsic (absolute and unconditional) was related to a decrease in environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior, while understanding it as intrinsic (conditional, limited by the needs of other people) had the opposite effect. Another set of hypotheses concerned the moderating role of identification with all humanity (IWAH). The authors hypothesized that in people with a high level of IWAH, the positive relationship between intrinsic freedom and pro-environmental attitudes was stronger, and the negative relationship between extrinsic freedom and pro-environmental attitudes was weaker compared to people with a low level of IWAH. The study was conducted on a sample of 773 Polish young adults (18-29 years) using a professional research panel. The results provide empirical evidence that intrinsic and extrinsic way of understanding freedom is related to environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, the hypothesis concerning the moderating role of IWAH was confirmed. These results contribute to a better understanding of the factors that determine commitment to climate protection.

PENGUATAN NILAI KEPEDULIAN LINGKUNGAN PADA SISWA JENJANG PENDIDIKAN DASAR

Human activities have contributed to environmental degradation. Improvement efforts are needed, one of which is through instilling pro-environmental behavior in children at the elementary education. This program aims to build and increase environmental awareness in elementary school. This community empowerment is carried out used the learning by doing method through the provision of materials, mentoring, and coaching. The participants had high enthusiasm for learning material about environmental education. Through the learning by doing method, the values ​​of concern for the environment can be easily accepted by children because they are in a happy and comfortable atmosphere, resulting in an increase in knowledge, sensitivity, and participation in conservation actions as the basic capital for forming pro-environmental attitudes and behavior. This successed has the potential to encourage wider implementation in everyday life, including waste management behavior, clean water use, electricity use, yard management, food selection, and consumption patterns. This program is one of the role models to fill the void in environmental education in the national education curriculum through the support of all parties, including academia, the private sector, government, community, and the media to mainstream environmental education in the non-formal sector in order to form a generation that cares about the environment and has the commitment to manage and maintain its sustainability in order to achieve sustainable development.

The sustainable transformation of business events: sociodemographic variables as determinants of attitudes towards sustainable academic conferences

PurposeThis study aimed to assess whether sociodemographic variables explain significant differences in attitudes towards transforming academic conferences into more sustainable events.Design/methodology/approachAn analytical model of participants' attitudes towards sustainable conferences based on literature review as well as the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour was developed and applied to a sample of 532 surveyed individuals from 68 countries who regularly attended academic conferences in the last five years prior to 2020. The results were refined using statistical and computational techniques to achieve more empirically robust conclusions.FindingsResults reveal that sociodemographic variables such as attendees' gender and age explain differences in attitudes. Women and older adults have stronger pro-environmental attitudes regarding event sustainability. On the other hand, attitudes towards more sustainable academic conferences are quite strong and positive overall. More sustainable events' venues, catering, conference materials and accommodations strongly influence attendees' attitudes towards more sustainable conferences. The strength of attitudes was weaker towards transportation.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the analyses focused on only aspects related to the attendees' attitudes. Assessing their real behaviour would complete this research. The geographical areas defined by the U.N. and used in this study have the limitation of combining highly developed countries and developing countries in the same geographical area, for example, the Americas and Asia and the Pacific.Practical implicationsSpecific socio-demographic variables' effects on attitudes towards sustainable academic conferences can indicate how organisers can best promote these events according to attendees' characteristics and develop differentiated marketing campaigns. For women and older adults, event sustainability should be emphasised as a competitive strategy to promote events and attract these audiences. Marketing strategies for younger attendees (under 30 years old) could focus on technology, networking or attractive social programmes. Sustainable venues, catering, conference materials and accommodations are easier to promote. Event organisers should encourage participants to make more environmentally friendly decisions regarding more sustainable event transport.Social implicationsA strategy based on promoting the event as contributing to sustainable development could educate attendees and put them on the path to developing stronger positive attitudes regarding sustainability and more sustainable behaviours. Sustainable academic conferences can educate students, organisers, service providers and delegates through their involvement in sustainable practices.Originality/valueTo our best knowledge, this research is the first to assess whether sociodemographic variables explain significant differences in attitudes towards the sustainable transformation of academic conferences.

Driven by personal or environmental gains? Investigating consumer motives behind purchasing long-lasting products

This study investigates the psychographic antecedents of consumers' preference for product longevity when purchasing electrical home appliances. The motivational factors behind this preference are determined by using a conceptual model that combines Lancaster's consumer theory with theory of planned behaviour and theory of basic human values. The analysis is built on survey data collected from a population-representative sample of 499 German consumers. Using structural equation modelling, it is found that consumers' preference for a long product lifetime is fostered by a respective positive attitude, but only if it is driven by personal rather than environmental gains. Furthermore, biospheric values enhance both attitude types, while stimulation values inhibit them; hedonic values only enhance attitude based on personal gains. Therefore, business practitioners are advised to communicate the personal benefits of long-lasting electrical home appliances and promote business models for product longevity that account for product variety and up-to-dateness. Policymakers should further develop educational measures to strengthen biospheric values and pro-environmental attitudes towards product longevity in society.

Personality aspects and proenvironmental attitudes.

Climate change is a serious threat. Personality psychologists can help address this threat by understanding what kind of people tend to endorse proenvironmental attitudes and engage in sustainable behavior. Previous research supports reliable associations between proenvironmental attitudes and personality traits. However, this research has generally aggregated different kinds of attitudes into a single composite and has focused on the domain level of personality traits. This study explored how 10 lower-order aspects of the Big Five personality traits were related to eight different proenvironmental attitudes in three convenience samples from the United States (N=1234; 1000) and the United Kingdom (N=538). All five trait domains were related to at least one proenvironmental attitude across all three samples. Seven of eight proenvironmental attitudes could be predicted by one or more traits in all three samples. We also found evidence that the Openness aspect of Openness to Experience was a more consistent predictor of proenvironmental attitudes than the Intellect aspect. In contrast, there was little benefit in distinguishing between the aspects of other trait domains. We did not find evidence that age or political orientation moderated the associations between proenvironmental attitudes and personality. Results point to the need for more fine-grained research on individual differences in proenvironmental attitudes and behavior.

Rural–Urban Divide: Generation Z and Pro-Environmental Behaviour

Generation Z is the crucial cohort that will have to face the issues resulting from human impacts on the environment. The oldest members of this generation are now entering adulthood. Even though Generation Z is a global and homogeneous cohort, research indicates that the type of settlement unit where one lives may condition the emergence of intra-generational differences. The study focused on determining the pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) of Generation Z from the perspective of a former-socialist European country, Poland. We explored the motivational factors of Polish Generation Z towards their PEB and the actual PEB they undertake. We conducted focus-group interviews with 68 representatives of Generation Z, aged 16–19, living in villages, small towns, and medium-sized and large cities. The data obtained from the interviews were analysed in NVivo software by means of content analysis. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we showed that the type of settlement unit determines pro-environmental attitudes and barriers to undertaking pro-environmental behaviour.

Pragmatic engagement with the wicked tourism problem of climate change through ‘soft’ transformative governance

This paper investigates the potential of transformative governance to address the wicked tourism problem of climate change. Drawing on a pragmatic constructivist approach that synthesises related concepts such as crisis, tourisystem, “dragons of inaction”, adaptive cycles and “panarchy”, we contend that progress toward lower-carbon tourism is currently impeded by mutually reinforcing poverty and rigidity traps which perpetuate gaps between pro-environmental attitudes and actual behaviour. Poverty traps occur when insufficient creativity is injected into the threatened system, while rigidity traps describe conservation of maladaptive system structures that reject creativity. Tourism responses to COVID-19 further demonstrate the intractability of these traps. “Soft” transformative governance, proposed as a realistic path for escaping the traps and improving system resilience, entails accelerated accrual of micro-transformations through paradigm nudge, or “transformation by stealth”. Facilitative strategies include constructive manipulation of stakeholder values, and adaptive mobilisation of citizenship rights and responsibilities.

A Systematic Review on Knowledge, Attitude and Practices towards Single-Use Plastic

Revisiting the knowledge, attitude and practices toward single-use plastic before the COVID-19 pandemic may be helpful to reduce single-use plastic usage in the endemic community. This systematic review aims to identify factors associated with single-use plastic usage before the COVID-19 pandemic. Five primary electronic databases namely, Scopus, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science and CINAHL were used to search from inception to 30 April 2020, for studies pertaining to the investigation of factors (i.e. knowledge, attitudes, practice) associated with single-use plastic usage. Twenty-nine (29) articles were identified and five (5) studies meeting eligible criteria were reviewed and remained in this systematic review. The present review found that younger generations and females had a more pro-environmental attitude and practices toward SUP while only youngsters were associated with a high knowledge level. Results also showed that a high education level does not necessarily result in good practices. Single-use plastics pollution is a worldwide problem and most of us are aware of its impact on us, our environment and our surrounding, however, SUP reduction practices are still low. To remedy this pressing situation, better interventions and more alternative materials to plastics are needed. Furthermore, we need more people to adopt a sustainable attitude and behaviour to make a change.

Building eco-surplus culture among urban residents as a novel strategy to improve finance for conservation in protected areas

The rapidly declining biosphere integrity, representing one of the core planetary boundaries, is alarming. In particular, the global numbers of mammals, birds, fishes, and plants declined by 68% from 1970 to 2016. One of the most widely accepted measures to halt the rate of biodiversity loss is to maintain and expand protected areas that are effectively managed. However, doing so requires substantial finance derived from nature-based tourism, specifically visitors from urban areas. Using the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) for conducting analysis on 535 Vietnamese urban residents, the current study examined how their biodiversity loss perceptions can affect their willingness to pay for the entrance fee and conservation in protected areas. We found that perceived environmental degradation, loss of economic growth, loss of nature-based recreation opportunities, and loss of knowledge as consequences of biodiversity loss indirectly affect the willingness to pay through the mediation of the attitude towards conservation. Notably, perceived knowledge loss also has a direct positive influence on the willingness to pay for the entrance fee and conservation. In contrast, perceived loss of health is negatively associated with the attitude towards conservation. Based on these findings, we suggest that building an eco-surplus culture among urban residents by stimulating their subjective cost-benefit judgments towards biodiversity loss can be a promising way to generate more finance from nature-based tourism for conservation in protected areas and ease the domestic government’s and international organizations’ funding allocation problems. Eco-surplus culture is a set of pro-environmental attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people to reduce negative anthropogenic impacts on the environment and conserve and restore nature.

Investigating the English public's awareness of the Bern Convention and their education on environmental issues and laws

Abstract This paper investigates the knowledge of the general public on the legislative framework relating to wildlife conservation in England, with a specific focus on the Bern Convention and the public's awareness of the treaty, as well as the domestic legislation transposing it. By creating a publicly available survey, the study determined the environmental attitudes of the public and their knowledge of the legislative regime relating to wildlife conservation. Whilst the majority of the public displayed pro-environmental attitudes and support for greater efforts towards the conservation of flora and fauna, the overall awareness of the legislation was worryingly low, with only 5.6% of respondents recognising the Bern Convention. Accordingly, the study investigated how awareness of environmental legislation may be increased. Ultimately, the paper concludes that formal environmental education, including legislation, must be optimised, and the domestic legislative framework should be further consolidated.

Dirty Hands: Exploring Elementary School Gardens to Develop Pro-Environmental Attitudes

The authors describe the benefits of elementary school gardening experiences and offer suggestions on how to nurture positive environmental attitudes among children through garden-based learning activities.

What Shapes Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Intention for Sustainable Fashion Consumption during a Stressful Time Event?

The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluting industries globally. It negatively affects the environment throughout all stages of the product life cycle because it requires large amounts of water for production, long supply chains and utilizes unsustainable materials. At the demand side, consumers’ awareness regarding sustainability has grown and they increasingly question the consumption of fast fashion. This study aimed at investigating whether and how stressful events, such as the current health crisis, influence sustainable fashion consumption intention. In particular, it analyzed the impact of pro-environmental attitudes and susceptibility to social influence on consumers’ intentions to engage in sustainable fashion consumption. To account for the impact of the recent stressful event, i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic, and following attachment theory, it was tested whether and how the perceived stress due to crisis determines consumers’ pro-environmental attitudes and susceptibility to social influence. A quantitative survey, with 576 young respondents, during the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2021, was used to test the hypotheses. The findings showed that perceived stress due to crisis impacts their susceptibility to peer’s influence, providing evidence for attachment theory. In addition, one stress factor, i.e., perceived self-efficacy with regard to COVID-19, increased pro-environmental attitudes and, in turn, sustainable fashion consumption intention. From a managerial perspective, the research helps to understand how individuals’ consumption behaviors may change during a crisis and how to serve best their needs.

Organic Food Consumption and Perception among Polish Mothers of Children under 6 Years Old.

Pro-environmental attitudes, including organic food consumption, can reduce negative impact on the environment. The consumption of organic food in Poland is rather low, but the ecological awareness of Poles is steadily increasing. The aim of the study was to assess the frequency and factors influencing the consumption of organic products and to analyze the perception of such food by mothers of children under 6 years of age (n = 667). The survey was conducted between March 2020 and May 2021 in three voivodships in Eastern Poland. The results of the survey indicate that the majority of respondents are occasional consumers of organic food (51%). The most commonly consumed organic products are eggs, vegetables and fruits, whereas the least consumed are alcoholic beverages, coffees and ready-to-eat meals. The responders' main characteristics of organic food are as follows: no genetic modification/GMO-free, no synthetic additives and having organic certification. Statistically significant correlations were found between the frequency of organic food consumption and education, financial situation as well as familiarity with the logo of the organic certificate and verifying that it is present on the packaging. The most common reasons for consuming organic food were health issues, while the high price was declared as the main barrier.

Digging into Gardening in Elementary Classrooms

Garden-based learning (GBL) presents meaningful content using experiential learning which may improve student engagement. Stemming from an overarching concept of engagement, this paper focuses on the classroom-based pedagogy of experiential learning. Based on the tenets of Progressivism, the work explores the benefits of garden based learning. It includes explanation of the connection to Progressivism, extracts of several garden-based practices, and benefits of integrating GBL into the curriculum- including improved classroom climate and increased pro-environmental attitudes. Suggestions for implementing gardens in elementary schools are included. Overall, this paper supports existing theories connecting garden-based learning to authentic education and positive child growth.

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

Organized activities practiced in adolescence are known to foster positive development, including active citizenship. Active citizenship encompasses a wide range of behaviors, one of them being pro-environmental behaviors. Few studies focused on the developmental factors that may predict these behaviors in adults, despite their crucial role in counteracting the current climate crisis. However, prior research showed that attitudes were typically major predictors of behaviors. This study thus tested a model that posited participation in organized activities in adolescence as a predictor of pro-environmental attitudes in emerging adulthood and these attitudes as a predictor of pro-environmental behaviors in adulthood. Three hundred twenty-one participants (61% girls) from Quebec (Canada) completed all time points across a 17-year period. Participants self-reported their participation in organized activities (sports, cultural, prosocial) from ages 14 to 17, pro-environmental attitudes, from ages 18 to 22, and pro-environmental behaviors, at age 30. Results revealed that pro-environmental attitudes mediate the relationship between adolescent participation in cultural activities and pro-environmental behaviors in adulthood. Practicing sporting or prosocial activities in adolescence did not predict stronger pro-environmental attitudes or behaviors. Interestingly, pro-environmental attitudes consistently predicted pro-environmental behaviors later in life. These findings and prior research suggest that participation in cultural activities may provide a space to discuss, imagine change, and cultivate sensitivity towards nature. This may contribute to the development of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors later in life.

Introducing Interdisciplinary Curricula Into Conservation Biology: Exploring Changes in Students’ Perceived Proenvironmental Attitudes and Behaviors

Today, conserving the natural environment is paramount. Educators have been striving to develop pedagogical approaches that facilitate greater engagement in conservation behaviors. However, many of these reforms have been targeted at an institutional level, without necessarily testing whether changes in proenvironmental perceptions, attitudes, or behaviors occur for students. This step seems important when developing conservation biology courses that provide well-rounded education that may better prepare students for future challenges in biodiverse conservation contexts. Our objective was to assess the proenvironmental attitudes and conservation values of undergraduate students enrolled in an undergraduate conservation biology course before and after instruction to determine whether a multidisciplinary curriculum, in conjunction with traditional conservation biology content, would alter their perceptions. Students in both the control and intervention groups felt relatively neutral about a range of environmental and conservation topics. No statistical significance between curricula and impact on student perception was revealed. However, in the experimental course, shifts were found concerning students’ understanding of the complexity of conservation. Results also highlight long-standing issues related to conservation education, such as a bias toward mammal conservation, and suggest that guest lectures are insufficient to bring about attitude change related to sustainability. Further research on incorporating cross-disciplinary pedagogy into STEM courses is recommended.

Shaping Pro-Environmental Attitudes through Higher Education—A Preliminary Study

Several authors argue that some types of academic education not focused on sustainability can also shape—at least some—competencies relevant to sustainability and turn students into more engaged individuals. The main goal of this article was to check this possibility based on the results of an e-questionnaire from 66 fresh graduates of a business-oriented university based in Poland. We found that respondents rated highly both the competencies that the university taught in the general sphere related to sustainable development and those important for their professional life and wanted further development of both groups of these competencies. Through regression analysis, we also found that the perceived development of SD competencies does not predict respondents’ ecological worldview. Of the studied predictors for ecological worldview, only female gender and mission- or socially-driven dream job remained in the regression model, accounting for approximately 18.6% of the variation in ecological worldview.

Patriotism as a conduit to employee environmental engagement in a post‐Soviet economy in transition

AbstractThis paper investigates the way in which first‐line managers in Belarusian chemical companies used environmental framings of the notion of homeland and linked these to Soviet‐legacy organisational practices in order to encourage members of staff to engage in proenvironmental behaviour at work. Participants presented three different framings of homeland: Rodina (the motherland), small Rodina (one's more immediate surroundings), and Katorga (“a country with forced labour”) to show how a sense of environmental responsibility could (or could not) be linked to them. Different Soviet‐legacy motivational and mobilisation techniques could be used by front‐line managers to encourage and reward proenvironmental engagement in employees who were amenable to different framings of homeland. The paper contributes to the limited literature on patriotism as a conduit to environmental virtue and engagement, and to the equally scarce literature on proenvironmental attitudes and behaviours in post‐Soviet economies in transition. Through rich, qualitative descriptions of emotionally coloured framings of homeland as constitutive of environmental responsibility, we show how notions of patriotism linked to specific organisational practices provide front‐line managers with a language and motivational techniques to address employees' environmental engagement—or lack thereof.

The Influence of Values and Social Environment on Parents’ Environmental Attitudes: Lithuanian Case Study

The conducted research reveals the significance of parents’ values and social environment factors, and their influence on pro-ecological attitudes. Parents from Lithuania were invited to participate in the study by filling out a questionnaire that aimed to assess their personal and ecological values, as well as factors of their social environment; the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale was used to assessed the pro-ecological attitude of the respondents. The results demonstrate that, among the personal values of parents, money takes a place of priority, but this cannot be treated only in the context of materialism, because parents seek the good of their children by fulfilling their needs, while also contributing to their education regarding financial literacy and consumption. In the context of ecological values, the results reveal the values of safe food and fresh air, showing how much parents care about their own and their children’s health, as well as noting air pollution as one of the pressing eco-problems. The results also show that family and school are factors of the social environment that most significantly influence parents’ pro-ecological attitude. The results reveal the respondents’ overall support for a pro-environmental worldview, and that parents who are older, more educated and live in the city are more likely to have a pro-environmental attitude.