A Cross-Cultural Study of Environmental Values and Their Effect on the Environmental Behavior of Children. (June 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Boeve-de Pauw, Jelle; Van Petegem, Peter
• Is Part Of: Environment and behavior. Volume 45:Number 5(2013)
• Page Start: 551
• Page End: 583
• Publication Date: 2013-06
• Subjects: environmental values -- environmental behavior -- children -- 2-MEV -- cross-cultural differences; Human ecology -- Periodicals; 304.2
• DOI: 10.1177/0013916511429819
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-9165

Abstract

Environmental values (EV) are regarded as significant precursors for environmental behavior (EB) by many scholars. The present study addresses the issue of the invariance of EV (tapped by the two-dimensional model of ecological values), and their effect on EB, across cultural contexts. In all, a total of 1, 833 ten- to thirteen-year-old children from Flanders, Guatemala, and Vietnam participated. The results show that EV and EB can be measured through a partially invariant model; children from the different groups differ in their EV and EB. Furthermore, the results show that the effect of EV on EB is different across cultural contexts. These results have implications for (among others) environmental education initiatives that aim for behavior change. Such initiatives need to take into account the target group, which—as illustrated by the results—shows different pathways toward reaching EB. Practitioners would therefore benefit from a culture-specific approach to designing environmental education.