Sustainability and Subjective Well-Being: How Students Weigh Dimensions

Attila Lengyel, Sándor Kovács, Anetta Müller, Lóránt Dávid, Szilvia Szőke and Éva Bácsné Bába
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Attila Lengyel: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi út 138, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Sándor Kovács: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi út 138, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Anetta Müller: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi út 138, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Lóránt Dávid: Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Szent István University, Páter Károly utca 1, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Szilvia Szőke: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi út 138, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Éva Bácsné Bába: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi út 138, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 23, 1-18

Abstract: Sustainability and Subjective Well-Being (SWB) are strongly interrelated domains. The way students view them and prioritize their dimensions should be factored into curricular developments in education for sustainability. Instruments developed to examine sustainability and SWB preferences typically use rating scale items to measure dimensions as separate entities. In contrast, the question format used in this study forces the students to rate variables in relation to each other. The sum of both SWB and sustainability variables was fixed, which means that increasing the weight of a priority automatically meant a decrease in the weight that could be allocated for the remaining elements. Two-block Partial Least Squares (PLS) modelling was used to examine how pre-defined SWB and sustainability dimensions behave when handled within the same model. It was found that those who ordered the three sustainability dimensions as Environment > Society > Economy tended to rank SWB dimensions as (Relations with others, Inner peace) > (Health, Close to nature) > (Good job, Leisure). Our research proved that the use of question formats resembling real-life resource allocation dilemmas and the treatment of SWB and sustainability as one system can yield invaluable information for the educational process.

Keywords: subjective well-being; sustainability; weighing sustainability dimensions; weighing SWB dimensions; interdependence of SWB and sustainability; two-block PLS modelling; urgency of socio-ecological crisis; sustainability education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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