The relationships between environmental sensitivity, ecological worldview, personal norms and pro-environmental behaviors in Chinese children: Testing the value-belief-norm model with environmental sensitivity as an emotional basis

Abstract

This study addresses the relationships that ecological worldview, environmental sensitivity, and personal norms have with pro-environmental behaviors in a particular child population in urban China. The survey questionnaires were distributed to 410 Grade 6 students from eight Green Schools in Shenzhen, China. The sample included 223 (54.3%) boys and 187 (45.6%) girls with ages ranging from 10 to 13 years. The results from structural equation modelling reveal that environmental sensitivity and personal norms were two critical factors in determining students' pro-environmental behaviors. The influence of ecological worldview was fully mediated by personal norms, whereas the effect of environmental sensitivity was partially mediated by both personal norms and ecological worldview.

Keywords: children; ecological worldview; environmental sensitivity; personal norms; pro-environmental behaviors.