Environmental Attitudes, Behaviors, and Responsibility Perceptions Among Norwegian Youth: Associations With Positive Youth Development Indicators

The Positive Effect of pro-Environmental Behavior on Eudaimonic Well-Being in Young Adults: A Daily Diary Study Using the Within-Person Encouragement Design

INTRODUCTION

Existing literature has highlighted the relevance of Pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs)-actions intended to benefit the environment-to Eudaimonic well-being (EWB, i.e., meaning in life and connectedness to others). However, most research has focused on stable individual differences and utilized cross-sectional designs, giving limited attention to the momentary fluctuations of PEBs within individuals. This study aimed to investigate the daily impact of PEBs on EWB from a causal perspective, examining whether manipulating daily PEBs would result in higher levels of EWB on those days.

METHOD

We adopted the Within-Person Encouragement Design, an experimental approach employing instrumental variable estimation, in a Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling framework. Participants were 63 Italian young adults assessed over 21 days and who received 11 randomized encouragements (i.e., "Today we ask you to implement more pro-environmental actions than you would normally enact on a typical day").

RESULTS

A significant positive adherence effect of the encouragement on PEB, and a significant positive treatment effect of PEB on EWB was found.

CONCLUSION

These findings are promising for advancing successful behavioral interventions designed to encourage daily PEBs in younger generations and highlight the importance of PEBs for experiencing a more meaningful life and enhanced connectedness with others.

Green for us: parental compensation for children's unsustainable behaviors

This study explores the impact of children's unsustainable behaviors on parental sustainable actions within family dynamics. Findings reveal that parents exposed to their children's unsustainable behaviors experience heightened family and environmental responsibility, which motivates them to engage in both private-domain and public-domain sustainable behaviors. These effects are amplified in intergenerational caregiving contexts, where parents compensate for reduced caregiving roles by adopting more sustainable practices. Through four experiments, the research validates the mediating roles of family and environmental responsibility and the moderating influence of caregiver type. This study extends existing theories on intergenerational behavior transmission by highlighting the influence of children's unsustainable behaviors, offering valuable insights for family education strategies and policy development aimed at fostering sustainability within households.

Developing a specific model to exploring the determinant of individuals' attitude toward forest conservation

Introduction

In the context of forest conservation, individuals' attitude can significantly influence their intentions and subsequent behaviors towards conserving forests. However, there is a research gap when it comes to understanding the determinants of individuals' attitude towards forests conservation. To address this gap, the present study aimed to investigate the influence of variables associated with values from value-belief-norm theory, awareness of consequences, and ascription of responsibility from norm activation model on individuals' attitudes as main determinant of behavior intention.

Methods

The Data of study was collected from a sample of 200 students from Behbahan University, Iran. through a questionnaire designed specifically for this purpose. The validity and reliability of questionnaire were confirmed. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the collected data.

Results

The findings of the study revealed that the examined variables were able to describe 88.6% of the variance in individuals' attitude towards forest conservation. Specifically, it was found that biospheric (ƛ= 0.097) and altruistic (ƛ= 0.385) values, ascription of responsibility (ƛ= 0.150), and awareness of consequences (ƛ= 0.380) had significant and positive effects on individuals' attitude towards forest conservation. On the other hand, egoistic values exhibited a significant and negative impact (ƛ= -0.071) on individuals' attitude.

Discussion

These research findings hold significant implications for planners and policymakers involved in forest conservation efforts. By understanding the factors that shape individuals' conservation attitudes, decision-makers can develop targeted strategies and interventions to strengthen positive attitudes towards forest conservation. Given the positive influence of biospheric values and awareness of consequences, developing awareness-raising programs to enhance individuals' environmental knowledge and the awareness of outcomes of their conservation actions can be considered as strategy to strengthen public's attitude and improvement their participation in forest conservation projects.

Effect of a single one-hour teaching session about environmental pollutants and climate change on the understanding and behavioral choices of adolescents: The BREATHE pilot randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Despite the wealth of scientific information on the health effects of air pollution, the adult public's lifestyle continues to be largely detrimental towards the environment.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the study was to determine whether a short interactive teaching session on air pollution could shift reported behavioral choices of adolescents towards environmentally friendlier options.

METHODS

We performed a pilot randomized control trial in which eighth-grade students were randomized to receive a one-hour script-based teaching on either the effects of air pollution on lung health (intervention group) or the role of vaccination in public health (active control group). The enrolled students completed a survey (15 multiple-choice questions; five targeting understanding (score range 5 to 20); ten targeting behavioral choices (score range 10 to 38) newly designed for this study to evaluate their understanding and predict their future behavior towards air pollution immediately before, immediately after, and one month after the teaching sessions.

RESULTS

Seventy-seven students (age = 13.5±0.6 years; 50.4% female; median annual family income = $25K-$50K with 70.1% <$50K; 39 assigned to intervention group) were enrolled in the study. The teaching sessions did not result in any significant change in the participants' understanding domain scores in either the intervention or the control groups. However, the intervention (air pollution) teaching session resulted in a statistically significant increase in behavior domain score from baseline to immediately post-teaching, which continued to be present at one-month follow-up (mean ± standard deviation of score change immediately after = 1.7±3.3; score change 1-month after = 2.5±3.2; P<0.001; minimally important difference = 1.0).

DISCUSSION

This pilot study highlights the potential of a short one-time teaching session in promoting environmentally friendly behavior choices among adolescents.