The Attitudinal Influence of Career Orientation in 1st-Year University Students: Environmental Attitudes as a Function of Degree Choice

This study establishes a behavioral model for university students by utilizing the theories of planned behavior and value-belief-norm, and proposes key latent variables for risk perception toward climate change to establish a structural equation model. Partial least squares analyses and three indicators are utilized to test the reliability, validity, and goodness-of-fit of the model. This study establishes a mixed model with formative and reflective indicators, and assesses both environmental concern and personality traits as formative indicators. Using standardized path coefficients, eight out of 10 paths demonstrate statistical significance, indicating that environmental value and environmental attitudes influence environmental behavior. Three of the five included personality traits (e.g., agreeableness, extraversion, and openness) demonstrate a positive correlation with environmental behavior and environmental attributes. Individuals’ risk perception positively influences their environmental value, environmental attitudes, and environmental behavior with respect to climate change. Keywords: climate change, environmental behavior, partial least square, personality trait.

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Can Climate Skeptics Be Convinced? The Effect of Nature Videos on Environmental Concern

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12072972 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 2972

Author(s):

Axel Franzen ◽

Sebastian Mader

Keyword(s):

Standard Deviation ◽

University Students ◽

External Validity ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Environmental Concern ◽

Environmental Organizations ◽

Online Experiment ◽

Attitudes And Behaviors ◽

And Behaviors

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.

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Validating the Scale of the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) in Brazilian University Students

Research Society and Development ◽

10.33448/rsd-v10i4.13947 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. e16410413947

Author(s):

José Francisco dos Reis Neto ◽

Celso Correia de Souza ◽

Taner Douglas Alves Bitencourt ◽

Cristiano Miranda Cupertino ◽

Patrício Lauro de Melo Neto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

University Students ◽

Structural Model ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Education Institution ◽

Future Research ◽

Higher Education Institution ◽

New Ecological Paradigm ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Ecological Paradigm

This article brings within two purposes. First it validated the scale of the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and then analyzed the ecocentrist and anthropocentric attitudes of university students from a Brazilian higher education institution. The original NPE scale of 15 items was used, in the form of a questionnaire and applied in a sample of 241 university students. Before the self-completion of the questionnaires, the university students did not receive the basic concepts of environmental attitudes. Confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to test the structural model and statistical procedures to describe the sample as to its properties of similarities between the groups of students. The NEP was reduced to 13 items, proving to be reliable and valid to investigate structured and multidimensional environmental attitudes of university students. When analyzing the segmentation of university students, it was identified that women presented a more intense ecocentrist attitude than men. For the other segmentation groups in relation to age range, area of knowledge, semester in progress and course period, they did not present statistically significant differences. However, overall, the scores of university students indicated more ecocentrist than anthropocentrist attitudes. The convenience sample of part of the courses offered by the higher education institution may cause a bias in the research, considering as a limitation of this study. However, with the confirmation of the two-factor model, the results indicate consistency and guide future research to activities related to the environment, such as sustainable tourism, preservation against environmental impacts, among others.

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Communicating climate change: Improving the effectiveness of public campaigns

Escritos de Psicología / Psychological Writings ◽

10.24310/espsiescpsi.v7i2.13256 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 28-35

Author(s):

María del Carmen Hidalgo Villodres ◽

Fernando Casado Castro ◽

Patricia García-Leiva

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

University Students ◽

Perceived Control ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Willingness To Accept ◽

Motivational Variable ◽

Specific Behaviour ◽

Initial Hypothesis ◽

Intended Behaviour

Research on climate change highlights the need to develop more effective campaigns to increase citizens’ awareness of this issue, increase their willingness to accept the measures necessary to halt this phenomenon and change their behaviour. This paper describes a study which analyzed the effectiveness of an advertising message that combined informative and motivational variables on proenvironmental attitudes and intended behaviour. The study sample consisted of 180 university students, divided into two equivalent groups. The results supported the initial hypothesis,the participants in the group that received specific behaviour guidelines (to increase perceived control) together with information on economic savings (motivational variable) displayed more changes in self-efficacy, pro-environmental attitudes and intention of behaviour than the group that did not receive this information.

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Optimizing the environmental attitudes inventory

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education ◽

10.1108/ijshe-03-2013-0027 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 16-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Stephen G. Sutton ◽

Emma Gyuris

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Attitude Change ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Reduced Form ◽

Content Type ◽

Before And After ◽

Students First ◽

The Difference ◽

University Experience ◽

The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to optimize the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI) and second, to establish a baseline of the difference in environmental attitudes between first and final year students, taken at the start of a university’s declaration of commitment to EfS. Design/methodology/approach – The psychometrically designed EAI was used to overcome the problems and limitations of the much-used, but controversial, revised New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale. The performance of the original 72-item EAI was compared with our 37-item reduced form using a population of first- and final-year university students. Findings – The reduced 37-item EAI provides a reliable and valid tool for investigating structured, multi-dimensional environmental attitudes of university students while reducing response burden and increasing response and completion rates compared with the longer versions of the EAI. Research limitations/implications – No attempt is made to link elements of the university experience with changes in attitude between first- and third-year students. The authors expect the 12-faceted EAI to provide more detailed feedback on the affective outcomes of EfS initiatives than currently used instruments. Originality/value – This research contributes to establishing the EAI as a gold standard with which to monitor students’ environmental attitudes. Although most studies aimed at understanding the impact of EfS measure attitude change over relatively short periods of time – typically using the brief NEP scale administered immediately before and after a specific semester course – the approach developed here is designed to detect attitudinal change that may be ascribed to the entire university experience between students’ first and final year.

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University Students' Attitude to the Environment: An Australian/USA Comparison and the Effects of An Educational Program

Australian Journal of Environmental Education ◽

10.1017/s081406260000286x ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 77-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Larry R. Ridener

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Educational Program ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Science And Technology ◽

Environmental Issues ◽

Institutional Processes ◽

The Usa ◽

Similar Sample

AbstractSignificant differences were found between a pretest measurement of environmental attitudes of a sample of tertiary students from the USA and that of a similar sample of Australian students; the latter scored higher on the total scale used to measure attitudes, and on all but one of the subscales. After an educational program USA students showed significant increases in scores for the total scale and for all the subscales so that they scored significantly higher on two subscales than Australian students. Discussion of these changes in measured attitudes refers to the institutional processes of education, to changes in environmentalism and to notions of dependence on science and technology for the resolution of environmental issues.

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