The Role Personal Responsibility Norms Play in Sustainable Development for University Students: The Impact of Service-Learning Projects

Susana Lucas Mangas, José María Marbán, María Concepción Unanue Cuesta, María Ángeles Manso Argüelles and José Romay Martínez
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Susana Lucas Mangas: Department of Psychology, University of Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
José María Marbán: Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences, Social Sciences and Mathematics, University of Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
María Concepción Unanue Cuesta: Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
María Ángeles Manso Argüelles: Department of Psychology, University of Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
José Romay Martínez: Department of Psychology, University of A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: Sustainable development is a desirable, global challenge that is as complex as it is necessary. While individual actions are positive, effective progress must start from a collective commitment. In line with this, recent research points to an urgent need for an increased effort to make sustainability education a key element in the basic literacy of all people. This study takes on this challenge of environmental education and changing attitudes in order to reach sustainable community development while relying on the principles of the value-belief-norm model (VBN). A quasi-experimental research design was used to analyze the impact of learning service projects on the activation of personal norms of university students. The results show that although no statistically significant differences appear between pre-test and post-test measurements, there is a clear trend towards improvement of personal norms about sustainable development, which encourages further research in this area.

Keywords: attitudes; environment; service-learning; norm; personal responsibility; higher education; SDG learning; sustainability competences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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