Many believe that educating people about environmental issues is crucial to resolving those problems. Understanding the connections between environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior is an essential part of promoting environmental action. Theory suggests that environmental literacy, which includes knowledge and attitudes, is correlated with pro-environmental behaviors, and that environmental behavior may be a result of environmental literacy. However, many studies have not found this expected correlation, and there is a lack of research on the factors that determine environmental behavior among adults. This study analyzed many variables related to environmental knowledge and attitudes to explore how each might impact pro-environmental behaviors in Israeli adults.
One model defines environmental behavior as one's environmental values, beliefs, and norms. Values were particularly important in this study because the authors analyzed connections between participants' environmental values and their chosen environmental behaviors. Values were differentiated as egoistic, biocentric, or altruistic. Egoism is a concern over how environmental behaviors might affect one's own life. Biocentrism is the belief that non-human living things are equally as important as human beings. Altruism is a concern for the public good over personal interests. Researchers continue to debate which values lead to environmental behavior.
The researchers developed a three-component definition of environmental literacy to assess literacy levels among participants: 1) cognitive environmental literacy (knowledge), 2) affective environmental literacy (attitudes and perceptions), and 3) behavioral environmental literacy (pro-environmental actions taken due to an understanding of environmental consequences). From there, the researchers broke down each component into variables, and either found or developed a questionnaire for each variable. Four questionnaires explored cognitive environmental literacy, specifically social knowledge, action-related knowledge, effectiveness knowledge, and systems thinking. Five questionnaires looked at the participant's affective environmental literacy, specifically environmental concern, humanity's place in the natural system, self-efficacy towards the environment, locus of control towards the environment, and willingness to act for the environment. Finally, a two-part questionnaire explored the participant's environmental behavior through environmental values, beliefs, and norms. For this study, the researchers wanted to test the strength of each variable in predicting environmental behavior.
The participants in this study were 659 adults working at an insurance company in Israel. The researchers chose this population because the demographic makeup of the insurance company employees was very similar to the demographics of the Israeli population as a whole in terms of age, occupation, and religiosity. Data was collected using a set of 11 questionnaires assessing the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of environmental literacy for each participant.
Every employee at the insurance company was invited via email to voluntarily complete the questionnaires. The researchers also collected demographic information for each participant, such as education level, marital status, economic status, and religiosity. The researchers used statistical analyses to assess correlations between environmental literacy and environmental behaviors.
Results showed that almost all of the environmental knowledge and affective components of environmental literacy were predictors of environmental behaviors. The cognitive components that were predictors of environmental behavior were social knowledge, action-related knowledge, and systems thinking. Affective components that predicted environmental behavior included willingness to act environmentally, environmental concern, and a perception of personal locus of control. These results support the theory that environmental knowledge influences environmental behavior.
Additionally, results showed that egoistic concerns, or concern over how environmental behaviors might affect one's own life, were the main drivers of environmental behavior. Environmental altruism was not a significant driver of environmental behavior.
While this study had a large sample size, it was limited by the fact that the results are only representative of an Israeli population. The environmental behaviors of adults in Israel may be influenced by different cultural factors than adults in North America.
The results of this study have critical implications for environmental organizations that take an altruistic approach to environmental advocacy. The authors recommend that these organizations should appeal more to people's concern for themselves rather than a concern to do the right thing for the planet. For example, the authors suggest that organizations frame pro-environmental actions as opportunities to protect quality of life rather than environmental quality. Specifically, environmental organizations should target current parents and adults who are considering parenthood by encouraging people to act sustainably in order to create a high quality of life for their children.
The Bottom Line
The relationship between environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior is complex, and understanding how these many factors interact is vitally important for addressing environmental degradation. This study assessed the connections between environmental literacy and environmental behavior by assessing the personal values that prompted pro-environmental behavior among 659 Israeli adults. Results showed that environmental behavior is most highly influenced by individual concerns about quality of life. Altruistic views and motivations regarding a duty or need to protect the earth were not found to be significant drivers of environmental behavior. The authors recommend that organizations should consider appealing more to people's concern for their futures and their children's futures, rather than a concern for the planet.