Understanding the Influence of Initial Values of College Students in Shaping Pro-Environmental Behavioral Intention

Yanqing Song, Han Bao and Shan Shen ()
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Yanqing Song: School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Han Bao: School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Shan Shen: School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: Pro-environmental behaviors are rooted in values, and understanding the initial values among college students is pivotal in developing educational strategies to improve their pro-environmental behavior. However, most pro-environmental behavior studies fail to consider the social values and personal values as different dimensional or even conflicting values. This study integrated two distinct values, namely perceived social values and perceived personal values, with the technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine how different values shape college students’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions. The proposed model was then empirically validated using survey data from 245 responses from freshmen students at a University in Chongqing. The findings reveal that while perceived social values and perceived personal values are both positively related to behavioral intention, the effect sizes of the former are much larger. Our findings highlight that higher institutions and instructors should continue shaping the prosocial values among college students and create personal values from pro-environmental behavior to reduce the detrimental impact on the environment and achieve sustainability.

Keywords: pro-environment; behavioral intention; social values; personal values; college students; TAM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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