Psychological and Situational Variables Associated with Objective Knowledge on Water-Related Issues in a Northern Spanish City

Abstract

This study brings together the level of objective knowledge on water-related issues and other variables of psychological and situational nature. A random sample of 459 participants was employed, selected proportionally based on sex and age. In this sample, knowledge on the water-related issues tended to be low, particularly related to the direct source of water in the household, the type of services involved in the management, and consumption itself. In order to understand both the relationship with knowledge on water and the relative importance of all the other factors, a regression model was formulated. The highest standardised effect was for sex, followed by occupation, political leaning, and water-related emotions. The best level of knowledge was attained if the residents were male, if they were actively employed or unemployed, if their political leaning was towards the left, and if they demonstrated greater emotional involvement with the water use. Consequently, the design of programmes would need to consider that the information flow must be greater for citizens as a whole, particularly for certain groups such as women and students. It should contribute to the realistic perception of water as a problem and to seek emotional involvement.

Barriers and Motivators of Household Water-Conservation Behavior: A Bibliometric and Systematic Literature Review

“…In addition, further research is needed to understand the moderation effect that positive and negative emotions cause in cognitive determinants of water-conservation behavior [69]. Past research states that including emotion in cognitive models enhances their model explanatory capacity regarding pro-environmental behavior [70]. Finally, concerning habits, our findings show that most research predominantly focuses on the link between past behavior and water consumption.…”

“…The predominant method of measuring the dependent variable in the analyzed studies is self-reported measures (57%) (e.g., [68,69]), followed by behavioral intention to conserve or save water (27%) (e.g., [70,71]). To a lesser degree, actual water consumption has been used as a metric, encompassing variations such as "per-capita consumption" or "consumption per household" (7%).…”

“…Emotions A scarce number of studies explore emotional variables in water consumption/conservation. Andrade et al [70] examine moral emotions related to irresponsible water use, finding a modest relationship with water objective knowledge. Díaz et al [69] show that perceived happiness predicts current behavior, while stress predicts both present and future behavior.…”

River Connectivity is Crucial for Safeguarding Biodiversity but May be Socially Overlooked. Insights From Spanish University Students

“…In Spain few studies reported profiles of users of water and watershed resources. In these studies, the majority of users are studying or have studied at the University: from more than 50% of users of Mar Menor watershed (Mediterranean basin; Velasco et al, 2018) and Valencian beaches (Cabezas-Rabadán et al, 2019), up to 80.8% of water users participating in a study in NW Spain (Andrade et al, 2021). Thus current university students like those included in our study, although not fully representative of all the users of water resources, would be-at least in the futurethe majority of water users in Spain.…”