Pro‐environmental attitudes during youth predict pro‐environmental behaviors later in lifeResearch across different disciplines indicates that attitudes are major predictors of behavior. Thus, pro-environmental attitudes (PEAs) can be expected to predict pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). This study examined whether participation in organized activities (OAs) during adolescence was associated with the adoption of PEAs in emerging adulthood, and whether these attitudes were associated with more frequent PEBs in adulthood.
Questionnaires completed by 321 study participants in Canada were used as data. Three types of OAs were considered: sports, cultural (e.g., religious, artistic, and scientific activities) and prosocial activities (e.g., volunteering, youth clubs such as scouts, and school activities). Prosocial activities tend to differ from the other two types of OAs in that they aim to benefit others. Each study participant completed a questionnaire ten times over a 17-year period. The questionnaire completed at the ages of 14, 15, 16, and 17 focused on OA participation. Questionnaires completed at the ages of 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 focused on PEAs. The final questionnaire completed at the age of 30 focused on PEBs.
Results found that youth participation in cultural OAs predicted both PEAs and PEBs; the other two types of OAs did not. In fact, participation in youth sports was generally associated with low PEA and PEB scores. Participation in prosocial activities during youth seemed to have no influence on either PEAs or PEBs. There were some gender differences, with boys more likely to participate in sports and girls more likely to participate in cultural activities. Girls also had higher PEA scores. Other results showed that PEAs consistently predicted pro‐environmental behaviors during adulthood. Of the various associations identified in the study, the strongest was between PEAs in emerging adulthood and PEBs in adulthood.
This research indicates that organized cultural activities during the teen years can facilitate higher frequency of PEBs in adulthood by promoting PEAs in young adulthood. These results may be explained by research studies suggesting that some OAs in adolescence support the development of civic orientation.
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