Self-reported Environmental Behaviors Research Articles

Quality of Chinese government environmental health information disclosure during COVID-19 pandemic: Satisfaction survey on University students.

Government played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic by disclosing related environmental health information to the public. A satisfaction survey is often used to evaluate the public's satisfaction of the government's information disclosure while reflecting problems in the current disclosure system. As University students generally have better cognitive skills, they efficiently received related information during the pandemic, and therefore 717 questionnaires completed by University students were selected for this study. During the pandemic, the quality of the government's environmental health information disclosure system ranked at 13.89, marginally higher than average. Moreover, the timeliness and content adequacy of the disclosure system ranked at a level slightly above average. By adopting Hayes PROCESS Model 4 and 8, this study found that there is a direct impact of environmental health knowledge and environmental health awareness on satisfaction. Furthermore, University students' environmental health knowledge and awareness enhanced satisfaction through the mediating effect of self-reported environmental behavior. Finally, this study attempted to discover the conditions under which environmental health knowledge and awareness would have a greater direct and indirect influence on satisfaction, that is, the reverse moderating effect of household income level. In addition, this paper offers policy recommendations to enhance quality of government environmental health information disclosure system.

Explicit (but not implicit) environmentalist identity predicts pro-environmental behavior and policy preferences

Awareness of environmental problems has increased dramatically over recent decades, but individual action to address environmental issues has remained stagnant. Shifting social identities may be an under-appreciated explanation of this gap: identification with environmentalists in the U.S. dropped from 78% to 42% since 1991. In four pre-registered studies of U.S. residents (total N = 2,033), we explored the predictors and outcomes of environmentalist identity. We also developed a novel implicit measure of less deliberate aspects of environmentalist identity. We used explicit and implicit environmentalist identity to predict self-reported environmental behaviors and policy preferences. Meta-analysis of our pre-registered studies revealed that explicit identity was moderately associated with implicit identity (r = 0.24). Explicit identity strongly and uniquely predicted pro-environmental behaviors and policy preferences (partial rs = .58, .62), while implicit identity did not uniquely predict either (partial rs = .05, .05). Our findings highlight the importance of social identity in conservation.

Environmental peer persuasion: How moral exporting and belief superiority relate to efforts to influence others

Traditional research on environmental behavior has explored the predictors of behavior change as a function of intervention efforts from an authority. The current research examines self-reported environmental behavior outside of these contexts, and in particular demonstrates the value in asking who attempts to influence the environmental behaviors of their peers. Environmental moral exporting and environmental belief superiority both related to efforts to influence the environmental behaviors of others, albeit in different ways. People high in moral exporting were more active in their efforts to influence the environmental behaviors of others, preferred a two-way dialogue between individuals, and enjoyed such interactions. Alternatively, individuals high in environmental belief superiority put relatively less effort into influencing others, compared to those high in environmental moral exporting, and tended to avoid environmental conversations. When individuals high in environmental belief superiority did have those conversations, they were likely to get frustrated and attempted to dominate the conversations. This research demonstrates the value in asking who tries to influence the environmental behavior of others and how they do so.

Can environmental education increase student-athletes’ environmental behaviors?

Environmental education was incorporated within a mentoring program (i.e. treatment group) for student-athletes at the University of Georgia. These student-athletes’ environmental attitudes, behavioral intent, knowledge, self-efficacy, self-regulatory learning, motivation, and learning strategies were assessed before and after their environmental education mentoring program. Results indicated student-athletes in the treatment group improved their self-reported environmental behaviors (t(32) = 2.34, p = 0.03) and self-efficacy (t(32) = 2.07, p = 0.04). However, future research should seek to determine how traits of student-athletes, such as their gender and chosen sport, may impact their level of environmental literacy and any possible impacts due to their mentors’ environmental values.

Putting Behavior Into Context

Although well-theorized causal explanations exist at the person level, scholars of environmental behavior have long neglected the social nature of environmental activism. Using a unique data set of individuals nested within local communities along the Han River, South Korea, we propose a novel empirical model for analyzing the contextual effect of social capital on different sets of self-reported environmental behaviors. Our findings, based on multilevel structural equation modeling, indicate that the community-level construct of social capital is a significant predictor of spatial variations in both private and public environmental behaviors, whereas the person-level construct of community ties has predictive power for private environmental behavior. Understanding these multilayered paths in which social capital relates to pro-environmental behaviors provides a crucial balance to previous single-level findings.

Environmental attitudes and behaviors among secondary students in Hong Kong

Purpose – Although researchers have identified correlations between specific attitudes and particular behaviors in the pro-environmental domain, the general relationship between young people’s development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors is not well understood. Past research indicates that geographic context can play a role, while social factors such as age and gender can have a more significant impact on predicting attitudes and behaviors than formal education. Few studies have systematically examined the relationships between education and environmental attitudes and behaviors among youth in Hong Kong. The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study comparing secondary school students’ environmental attitudes and behaviors with age and related factors in two international schools and two government schools in Hong Kong. Students’ attitudes and behaviors were compared based on school type (curriculum), while the authors additionally compared the significance of social factors and attitudes on students’ behaviors. Design/methodology/approach – Attitudes were measured using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and the NEP for Children (NEPC), the most commonly used, internationally standardized tools for investigating environmental attitudes and values of adults and young people for comparative purposes. The authors compared NEP/NEPC scores and student self-reported environmental behaviors using a short questionnaire. Findings – No significant differences were found in attitudes or behaviors based on school type. However the authors did observe a significant effect of gender and age on students’ attitudes, and a significant correlation of student attitudes in the NEP with students’ self-reports regarding air conditioning consumption. Originality/value – This study builds a foundation for cross-national studies and for evaluating the impact of curricula over time.

Environmental Behavior of Visitors to a Science Museum

ABSTRACTIncreasingly, informal science and environmental education institutions are addressing conservation messaging and environmental behavior in programming, exhibits, and interpretation. Yet, little is known about what pro-environmental behaviors visitors are currently undertaking, what characteristics those environmental behaviors may have in common, and what differences might exist among visitor populations. This study investigated environmental behaviors and attitudes of visitors (N = 689) to an informal science museum, including separate foci on members and nonmembers based on previous work suggesting differences between the two groups. To improve research, policy, and educational interventions that address environmental behavior, researchers have long sought to uncover relationships among unique environmental behaviors. To this end, the authors explored whether five commonly recommended pro-environmental behaviors shared underlying characteristics that could be used to group those behaviors. They uncovered some dissimilarity in self-reported environmental behaviors among members and nonmembers. Although no single shared construct underlying the behaviors was evident, the authors did find, for nonmember visitors, a suite of three traditional environmental behaviors and, for members, a suite of four contemporary environmental behaviors. They discuss implications for practice and future research.

Short- and long-term effects of embodied experiences in immersive virtual environments on environmental locus of control and behavior

Immersive virtual environments (IVEs) allow individuals to see, hear, and feel digital stimuli as if they were in the physical world. Two studies tested the power of embodied experiences within IVEs by comparing the effects of cutting a virtual tree against reading a print description or watching a video depiction of the tree-cutting process to encourage paper conservation. Experiment 1 found that IVEs led participants to consume 20% less paper than participants who read a print description of tree cutting. Experiment 2 demonstrated that IVEs elicited greater self-reported internal environmental locus of control and self-reported environmental behaviors than print and video messages one week following the virtual experience. Moreover, internal environmental locus of control served as a mediator, driving environmental behaviors. We discuss the implications of using embodied experiences for behavior change.

Children’s Restorative Experiences and Self-Reported Environmental Behaviors

Positive experiences in nature relate to children’s environmental behaviors. The reasons for this link remain unknown. One possibility is that children behave more ecologically because they obtain benefits from spending time in nature. In the present study, we looked at positive experiences in nature, specifically restoration, as a motivational factor enhancing children’s proenvironmental behavior. Children ( N = 832) rated their school yards in terms of restoration and reported their frequency of proenvironmental behaviors as well as their environmental attitudes. Perceived restoration predicted 37% of the variance in reported proenvironmental behavior. Moreover, this relationship was completely mediated by environmental attitudes. In addition, fascination, a component of restoration, was the only direct predictor of proenvironmental behavior.

Promoting pro-environmental attitudes and reported behaviors of Malaysian pre-service teachers using green chemistry experiments

Environmental degradation is a general problem but it is often more serious in developing nations where levels of awareness are lower than in industrialized countries. There is, therefore, a need particularly in developing countries to increase pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. In this paper, we report the results of a quasi-experimental study designed to change environmental attitudes and environmental behaviors among 263 science pre-service teachers. The treatment consisted in the form of a green chemistry curriculum. We found statistically reliable changes in environmental attitudes, as measured by the New Ecological Paradigm, and in eight self-reported environmental behaviors. The Bayesian t-test suggests that the evidence for the changes to have been the result of the green chemistry curriculum is decisive. We conclude that the green chemistry curriculum constitutes a suitable context: (a) for supporting pre-service teachers in their development of pro-environmental attitudes and (b) for changing the levels of self-reported pro-environmental actions.

Variation in Environmentalism Among University Students: Majoring in Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Predicts Environmental Concerns and Behaviors

In a survey of Canadian university students (N = 205), the relationship between majoring in an outdoor recreation university program and environmental concern, cooperation, and behavior were examined. Stepwise linear regression indicated that enrollment in outdoor recreation was predictive of environmental behavior and ecological cooperation; and these results held independently of age and gender. We then examined the possibility that environmental concern may mediate these relationships. Inclusion of ecocentrism as a mediating variable indicated that environmental concern partially accounted for the relation between outdoor recreation and self-reported environmental behavior, and fully mediated (reduced to nonsignificance) the relationship between outdoor recreation and ecological cooperation. Results are discussed in the context of education, and more specifically experiential outdoor education as promoting environmental behavior through greater concern for the ecosystem.

Testing the Moderating Role of the Components of Norm Activation on the Relationship Between Values and Environmental Behavior

This study replicates and expands Schultz et al.’s findings regarding the applicability of the norm-activation model on self-reported environmental behavior. As expected, a significant three-way interaction was found among perceived seriousness of global environmental problems, ascription of responsibility for global environmental problems, and altruistic values when predicting environmental behaviors. This held even considering smaller measures, an online procedure to gather data, a diverse sample from more than 50 countries, and controlling for content overlap between measures.

A comparative study of Canadian and Taiwanese grade 5 children?s environmental behaviors, attitudes, concerns, emotional dispositions, and knowledge

The multicultural nature of today’s elementary school classrooms in Australia, Europe, and North America bring interesting cultural and linguistic influences to constructivist-oriented environmental education programs. Students’ prior knowledge, beliefs, values, and attitudes might affect their understandings about and actions toward the environment. This study explored the cultural influences on children’s self-reported environmental behaviors, perceptions, and understandings; investigated the differences between two culturally distinct groups; and developed models of children’s responsible environmental behavior. English and Mandarin questionnaires developed with reasonable validity and reliability were used to collect data regarding children’s environmental behaviors, attitudes, concerns, emotional dispositions, knowledge, and situational factors causing children’s irresponsible behavior. Useable data collected from 278 grade 5 children from Victoria, BC, Canada, and 483 grade 5 children from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and multiple regression analyses. The results revealed more similarities than differences with small to moderate effect sizes within and between these Canadian and Taiwanese children. Television was the most popular source of environmental information for both groups of children. Canadian children had much more variety and frequency of nature activities than Taiwanese children. Children from both countries expressed positive environmental behavior, positive attitudes toward the environment, high concern about the environmental problems, high emotional disposition toward current environmental situations, and moderate environmental knowledge. The original model of children’s responsible environmental behavior did not fully reflect these Canadian and Taiwanese data; therefore, alternative models were developed. Affective variables appear to be stronger influences on children’s responsible environmental behavior than the cognitive variable.

Symbolic Beliefs as Barriers to Responsible Environmental Behavior

This was an exploratory study that investigated how environmental beliefs relate to self-reported environmental behaviors. A convenient student sample ( N = 110) was administered a 208-item instrument (Environmental Categorization Instrument - based on the Roper survey The Environment: Public Attitudes and Individual Behavior (Roper, 1990)). The sample was segmented into three groups by cluster analysis using self-reported environmental behavior. The groups were characterized with descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis. From the cluster groups, a smaller sample ( n = 10) was chosen to be interviewed. The survey results showed that most of the sample perceived themselves as environmental, and differed only in strength of attitudes. The interviews showed a marked disparity from the survey results. This was attributed to the individuals' environmental belief and value structures that were symbolic in nature and did not lead to more than token behavior.

Consumers’ Environmental Behavior

The means applied to promote environmentally friendly behavior need to be evaluated. This study investigates the possibility that actions meant to improve recycling may have unintended consequences in fields other than the target behavior. The relation between self-reported environmental behaviors in several sectors is studied, with particular attention given to the question of whether increased recycling may develop into a compensatory behavior for less environmentally friendly behavior elsewhere. Results from a survey, including approximately 1,500 Norwegian consumers, are presented. No tendencies toward compensatory behavior are detected. Furthermore, the survey does not indicate that the introduction of measures meant to increase recycling brings increased attitudinal support for compensatory behavior. At the same time, the survey supports the view that there is no “general” environmental behavior among consumers. On the other hand, the correlations between different behaviors increase when the behaviors in question become more similar.