The development of children’s environmental attitude and behavior

Otto, Siegmar; Evans, Gary W.; Moon, Min J.; Kaiser, Florian G.

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101947

Cited by 157 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Consequently, the number of studies examining the factors and processes leading to PEB has also increased. However, little is known about the pathways to children's pro-environmentalism (Otto et al, 2019), especially in developing countries. To fill this gap in the literature, we evaluated the role that place of residence (urban/rural) plays in Mexican children's PEB.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to previous studies, some of the drivers of children's PEB include frequent contact with nature (Evans et al, 2018;Collado and Evans, 2019;Otto et al, 2019), pro-environmental attitudes (Cheng and Monroe, 2012;Larson et al, 2015), social norms (Casaló and Escario, 2016;Evans et al, 2018), and perceived restorativeness . To the best of our knowledge, there has been little research done on the role played by the child's environment on their PEB, especially in developing countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Urban/Rural Environments on Mexican Children’s Connection to Nature and Pro-environmental Behavior

et al. 2020

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Living in rural areas has been described a driver for behaving in a pro-environmental way, mainly due to the more frequent contact with nature that people from rural areas have. However, the processes that link living in a rural area and behaving in a more ecological manner have not been systematically studied. Moreover, most studies have focused on adults living in developed countries. Given the importance that the actions conducted by people in developing countries have for the future of the environment, as well as the relevance of children's pro-environmentalism for nature conservation, we present a brief research report examining the relationship between Mexican children's place of residence and self-reported pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Participants were 200 children from Mexican rural areas (<1,000 inhabitants) and 200 from a Mexican urban city (>150,000 inhabitants). Children were between 9 and 12 years old. Children's connection to nature was considered as a mediator in the relationship between children's place of residence and PEB. Our findings revealed that rural children hold a stronger sense of connection to nature and behave in a more pro-environmental way than urban children. In addition, place of residence was directly and positively linked to their PEBs, and this relationship was mediated by children's connection to nature. The relationship between connection to nature and PEB was stronger for girls than for boys. The model explained 45% of the variance of children's self-reported PEBs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Urban/Rural Environments on Mexican Children’s Connection to Nature and Pro-environmental Behavior

et al. 2020

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“…Interestingly, pro-environmental behavior tends to decline from childhood to adolescence (Evans et al, 2007;Krettenauer, 2017;Wray-Lake et al, 2017;Krettenauer et al, 2019;Otto et al, 2019) and again increase in adulthood (Grønhøj and Thøgersen, 2009;Otto and Kaiser, 2014). Similarly, adolescents tend to see pro-environmental behavior as less obligatory then their younger counterparts (Krettenauer, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability in Youth: Environmental Considerations in Adolescence and Their Relationship to Pro-environmental Behavior

Balundė

Perlaviciute

Truskauskaitė‐Kunevičienė

2020

Front. Psychol.

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Adolescents today face the negative outcomes of climate change, and their proenvironmental behavior is crucial to mitigate these negative outcomes. Yet, we know little about what influences adolescents' pro-environmental behavior. Research shows that people's biospheric values and environmental self-identity, elicit personal norms to act environmentally friendly, which can induce a wide range of pro-environmental actions. Yet there is no evidence that these factors can influence pro-environmental behavior of adolescents, because this has only been studied for adults. Given that in adolescence, values, identities and moral structures undergo intense development, the question is whether these factors can motivate adolescents to act pro-environmentally. To address this question, we have conducted three studies with adolescents in Lithuania (Study 1: N = 256; Study 2: N = 349; Study 3: N = 905). We found support that adolescents' biospheric values and environmental self-identity were associated, via personal norms, with a wide range of pro-environmental behaviors, including recycling, environmentally friendly traveling, purchasing environmentally friendly goods and drinking tap water. Based on theory and the current findings, we suggest directions for policies aimed at promoting pro-environmental behavior of adolescents.

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“…Whether for biological or cultural reasons, these results imply strong interdependencies between mind, body, and culture that should be taken into account when conceptualising human-nature relationships. Otto et al [87] shows that environmental attitudes are also a function of people’s age. They report that environmental attitudes develop during childhood, consolidate during teenage years, and then decline.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-nature relationships in context. Experiential, psychological, and contextual dimensions that shape children’s desire to protect nature

Giusti

2019

PLoS ONE

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What relationship with nature shapes children’s desire to protect the environment? This study crosses conventional disciplinary boundaries to explore this question. I use qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse experiential, psychological, and contextual dimensions of Human-Nature Connection (HNC) before and after children participate in a project of nature conservation. The results from the interviews (N = 25) suggest that experiential aspects of saving animals enhance children’s appreciation and understanding for animals, nature, and nature conservation. However, the analysis of children’s psychological HNC (N = 158) shows no statistical difference before and after children participate in the project. Analysing the third dimension–children’s contextual HNC–provides further insights. Including children’s contextual relations with home, nature, and city, not only improves the prediction of their desire to work for nature, but also exposes a form of Human-Nature Disconnection (HND) shaped by children’s closeness to cities that negatively influence it. Overall, combining experiential, psychological, and contextual dimensions of HNC provides rich insights to advance the conceptualisation and assessment of human-nature relationships. People’s relationship with nature is better conceived and analysed as systems of relations between mind, body, culture, and environment, which progress through complex dynamics. Future assessments of HNC and HND would benefit from short-term qualitative and long-term quantitative evaluations that explicitly acknowledge their spatial and cultural contexts. This approach would offer novel and valuable insights to promote the psychological and social determinants of resilient sustainable society.

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The development of children’s environmental attitude and behavior

Cited by 157 publications

References 40 publications

The Role of Urban/Rural Environments on Mexican Children’s Connection to Nature and Pro-environmental Behavior

The Role of Urban/Rural Environments on Mexican Children’s Connection to Nature and Pro-environmental Behavior

Sustainability in Youth: Environmental Considerations in Adolescence and Their Relationship to Pro-environmental Behavior

Human-nature relationships in context. Experiential, psychological, and contextual dimensions that shape children’s desire to protect nature

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