scholarly journals Reexamining the Measurement of Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors to Promote Sustainable Development: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. em2001
Author(s):  
Josephat Paul Nkaizirwa ◽  
Florien Nsanganwimana ◽  
Catherine Musalagani Aurah
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guadalupe Martínez-Borreguero ◽  
Jesús Maestre-Jiménez ◽  
Milagros Mateos-Núñez ◽  
Francisco Luis Naranjo-Correa

Education for Sustainable Development requires improving the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of students at all levels of education. However, this should start from the earliest stages of education, promoting an effective teaching/learning process of key concepts for sustainable development. Accordingly, the general objective of this research was to analyze the concepts of water, energy and waste in the primary education curriculum (6–12 years) in Spain. A qualitative research approach was followed, with an exploratory and descriptive design. A system of categories was established for each of the concepts under study, with the aim of classifying the references found, analyzing their integration into the different subjects, academic courses, curricular elements and levels of cognitive demand required of the students. The results of the lexicographical analysis of the content reveal that the regulations governing primary education in Spain mainly focus on the concept of energy and, to a lesser extent, on the concepts of water and waste. In addition, cognitive levels of knowledge and comprehension predominate based on the taxonomy used. The results suggest the need to develop initiatives for the educational framework that promote not only learning, but also attitudes and behaviors that contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).


Author(s):  
Liz Jackson ◽  
Ming Fai Pang ◽  
Emma Brown ◽  
Sean Cain ◽  
Caroline Dingle ◽  
...  

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2972
Author(s):  
Axel Franzen ◽  
Sebastian Mader

Much research has demonstrated that videos can function as primers or nudges that influence attitudes and behaviors. Studies to date suggest that this includes influence over individual pro-environmental attitudes. However, the existing evidence all stems from samples comprised of university students. In this paper, we describe the results of a randomized online experiment in a sample of 468 climate skeptics. We presented 3-min nature documentary videos that highlighted either the beauty of nature, the endangerment of nature by humans, or a mixture of both. The results suggest that the mixed stimulus video, which shows first the beauty of nature and then its endangerment by humans does indeed increase environmental concern by almost half a standard deviation. However, none of the video treatments increased donations to pro-environmental organizations. Still, the results suggest that nudging by video also works in samples of climate skeptics, which demonstrates the external validity of former findings.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 611-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dian Gu ◽  
Shuqing Gao ◽  
Rong Wang ◽  
Jiang Jiang ◽  
Yan Xu

Previous studies have shown that materialism is related to environmentalism, but unstable findings still exist. To clarify the relationships between materialism and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, the present study addressed some methodological issues and provided both individual- and regional-level evidence from China. Using data from the World Value Survey and the Chinese General Social Survey, we observed that materialism was negatively associated with pro-environmental attitudes (Study 1, n = 2,300; Study 2, n = 3,672) and pro-environmental behaviors (Study 2). Moreover, we found that pro-environmental attitudes partially mediated the association between materialism and pro-environmental behaviors in Study 2. We further searched for additional regional evidence in Study 3, and we found that the more materialistic regions are, the more energy is consumed. Results indicate that materialism is associated with decreases in pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the research findings.


Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (22) ◽  
pp. 1396
Author(s):  
Somchai Jitsuchon

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is both a continuation to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and an improvement on the addition of ‘means of implementation’ to achieve the goals. The SDGs recognize that countries should have their own ways to achieve development goals. In this regard, Thailand, through its ‘sufficiency economy philosophy’ (SEP) invented by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, has created a unique path to attain sustainable development. The SEP path involves (a) shaping personal attitudes and behaviors towards sufficiency and (b) setting procedures or protocols for development projects and programmes. In this paper, we developed a system of indicators that capture the first component—personal attitudes and behaviors—of the sufficiency economy philosophy practiced by Thai people, as well as a set of ultimate development outcome indicators, using data from nation-wide household and community surveys. We then analyze how practicing the sufficiency economy philosophy is associated with development outcomes, where we find positive correlation between the two groups of indicators.


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