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Article
Publication date: 21 November 2016

Jasmine Leby Lau, Ahmad Hariza Hashim, Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah and Azizah Salim Syed Salim

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensionality of the environmental concern scale (NEP) and to understand the environmental worldviews of Malaysian project managers.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensionality of the environmental concern scale (NEP) and to understand the environmental worldviews of Malaysian project managers.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among developer organisations registered with Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia in Klang Valley. Response was obtained from project managers and the final sample collected was 87 cases, representing a response rate of 24.5 per cent. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted to investigate the underlying structure of the NEP items while frequency distribution for the data set was used to gauge the environmental worldviews of the respondents. In addition, face-to-face interviews were carried out to gather more information to complements the findings of quantitative analyses.

Findings

Five factors were extracted but due to heavy cross-loadings, two items from the original scale were dropped, reducing it to be a 13-item scale. The four factors retained explained 61.6 per cent of the variance and were duly named Human over nature, ecocrisis, rights of nature and limits of growth. High scores on both pro-NEP and pro-dominant social paradigm items revealed the co-existence of both ecological and utilitarian view of the environment among project managers. Similar outcome was obtained from interviews with project managers where they indicated efforts in finding compatibility between protecting the environment and exploiting natural resources for development.

Research limitations/implications

The sample was restricted to housing developers in Klang Valley, thus the findings cannot be generalised to all developer organisations or other construction occupational groups.

Practical implications

This research supported the multidimensionality claim of the environmental scale (NEP) where four distinctive dimensions were identified. The usage of individual subscales in understanding environmental beliefs may reveal interesting patterns in that each dimension could have positive and negative connotations on human behaviours. In addition, the co-existence of both an ecological and a utilitarian view of the environment revealed that these worldviews align well with sustainable development principles.

Originality/value

This study is one of the few local studies that attempt to understand the environmental worldviews of project managers.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 January 2015

Stephen G. Sutton and Emma Gyuris

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to optimize the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI) and second, to establish a baseline of the difference in environmental…

1527

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to optimize the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI) and second, to establish a baseline of the difference in environmental attitudes between first and final year students, taken at the start of a university’s declaration of commitment to EfS.

Design/methodology/approach

The psychometrically designed EAI was used to overcome the problems and limitations of the much-used, but controversial, revised New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale. The performance of the original 72-item EAI was compared with our 37-item reduced form using a population of first- and final-year university students.

Findings

The reduced 37-item EAI provides a reliable and valid tool for investigating structured, multi-dimensional environmental attitudes of university students while reducing response burden and increasing response and completion rates compared with the longer versions of the EAI.

Research limitations/implications

No attempt is made to link elements of the university experience with changes in attitude between first- and third-year students. The authors expect the 12-faceted EAI to provide more detailed feedback on the affective outcomes of EfS initiatives than currently used instruments.

Originality/value

This research contributes to establishing the EAI as a gold standard with which to monitor students’ environmental attitudes. Although most studies aimed at understanding the impact of EfS measure attitude change over relatively short periods of time – typically using the brief NEP scale administered immediately before and after a specific semester course – the approach developed here is designed to detect attitudinal change that may be ascribed to the entire university experience between students’ first and final year.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 June 2021

Kerry Shephard, Qudsia Kalsoom, Ritika Gupta, Lorenz Probst, Paul Gannon, V. Santhakumar, Ifeanyi Glory Ndukwe and Tim Jowett

Higher education is uncertain which sustainability-related education targets should be sought and monitored. Accepting that something needs to be measurable to be systematically…

Abstract

Purpose

Higher education is uncertain which sustainability-related education targets should be sought and monitored. Accepting that something needs to be measurable to be systematically improved, the authors explored how measures relate to potential targets. This paper aims to focus on dispositions to think critically (active open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking in appraising reasoning) as measures and explored how they related to sustainability concern as an indicative educational target.

Design/methodology/approach

This research included the development and testing of research instruments (scales) that explored dispositions to critical thinking and sustainability concern. Authors researched these instruments within their own correspondence groups and tested them with university students and staff in Pakistan, the USA, Austria, India and New Zealand. The authors also asked a range of contextualising questions.

Findings

Respondents’ disposition to aspects of active, open-minded thinking and fair-minded thinking do predict their concern about facets of sustainability but their strength of religious belief was an important factor in these relationships and in their measurement.

Practical implications

This research demonstrates the complexity of monitoring dispositions to think critically and sustainability concern in educational systems, particularly in circumstances where the roles of religious beliefs are of interest; and suggests ways to address this complexity.

Originality/value

This research integrates and expands discourses on ESD and on critical thinking in diverse disciplines and cultures. It investigates measurement approaches and targets that could help higher education institutions to educate for sustainable development and to monitor their progress, in ways that are compatible with their culture and values.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 22 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2016

Buket Asilsoy and Derya Oktay

The significance of ecological citizenship for the sustainable urbanism discourse has been highly recognised in recent years. Targeting to adopt ecological citizenship as a…

Abstract

The significance of ecological citizenship for the sustainable urbanism discourse has been highly recognised in recent years. Targeting to adopt ecological citizenship as a lifestyle among urban residents appears potentially significant and urgent for the city of Famagusta, North Cyprus. As a result of unsustainable urban development, Famagusta dictates a new way of living to its inhabitants that is not familiar to them in terms of local sociocultural characteristics and environmental values. Therefore, a user survey was carried out among local people, within a random sample of 165 residents, in order to obtain scientific data that may be used for the needed planning policies. Within the survey, environmental attitudes of the residents were measured with the help of Dunlop and Van Liere’s New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale. The aim was to understand the level of their existing environmental worldview, one of the basic aspects of ecological citizenship. The results of the survey reveal that Famagusta residents’ existing environmental attitudes cannot achieve an adequate level in order to be one of the dynamics shaping their lifestyles. However, residents have slightly more than a medium level of environmental worldview.

Details

Open House International, vol. 41 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Liz Jackson, Ming Fai Pang, Emma Brown, Sean Cain, Caroline Dingle and Timothy Bonebrake

Although researchers have identified correlations between specific attitudes and particular behaviors in the pro-environmental domain, the general relationship between young…

Abstract

Purpose

Although researchers have identified correlations between specific attitudes and particular behaviors in the pro-environmental domain, the general relationship between young people’s development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors is not well understood. Past research indicates that geographic context can play a role, while social factors such as age and gender can have a more significant impact on predicting attitudes and behaviors than formal education. Few studies have systematically examined the relationships between education and environmental attitudes and behaviors among youth in Hong Kong. The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study comparing secondary school students’ environmental attitudes and behaviors with age and related factors in two international schools and two government schools in Hong Kong. Students’ attitudes and behaviors were compared based on school type (curriculum), while the authors additionally compared the significance of social factors and attitudes on students’ behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

Attitudes were measured using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and the NEP for Children (NEPC), the most commonly used, internationally standardized tools for investigating environmental attitudes and values of adults and young people for comparative purposes. The authors compared NEP/NEPC scores and student self-reported environmental behaviors using a short questionnaire.

Findings

No significant differences were found in attitudes or behaviors based on school type. However the authors did observe a significant effect of gender and age on students’ attitudes, and a significant correlation of student attitudes in the NEP with students’ self-reports regarding air conditioning consumption.

Originality/value

This study builds a foundation for cross-national studies and for evaluating the impact of curricula over time.

Details

International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2396-7404

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 January 2018

Lamberto Zollo, Sukki Yoon, Riccardo Rialti and Cristiano Ciappei

The purpose of this paper is to explore the understudied antecedents of moral reasoning and cognitive processes that ultimately shape the ethical consumption. The theory of…

5699

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the understudied antecedents of moral reasoning and cognitive processes that ultimately shape the ethical consumption. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the socio-intuitionist model are integrated. Holistic, inferential, and affective dimensions of intuition are identified as critical antecedents of environmental concerns that then influence the ethical consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling is used to analyze intuitive judgments and ethical concerns in 256 US undergraduates. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) is used to measure ethical concerns and the ecologically conscious consumer behavior (ECCB) instrument is used to measure ethical consumption.

Findings

The results indicate that inferential intuition, but not affective intuition, significantly predicts the ethical concerns (NEP), which in turn significantly influence all five dimensions of ethical consumption behavior (ECCB).

Practical implications

Managers and marketing strategists should focus on non-rational influences such as moral intuition to effectively promote ethical and responsible consumption.

Originality/value

The TPB and the intuitionist theory are integrated to reveal empirically how intuitive judgments may affect consumer attitudes and to provide new insights regarding the ethical consumption.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 56 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2013

S. Mann, J. Harraway, F. Broughton‐Ansin, L. Deaker and K. Shephard

The aim of this paper is to respond to calls for higher education institutions to address sustainability within the curriculum. Institutions that aim to graduate citizens with…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to respond to calls for higher education institutions to address sustainability within the curriculum. Institutions that aim to graduate citizens with prescribed attributes relevant to sustainability may need to develop teaching and learning support‐programmes appropriate to the varied nature of students' worldviews.

Design/methodology/approach

The research described here used the NEP (Revised New Ecological Paradigm) and statistical cluster‐analysis to explore if individuals within cohorts of students could reasonably be clustered into subgroups with identified sustainability attributes relevant to the design of learner‐support programmes.

Findings

All seven programme cohorts in one institution's annual intake clustered into three subgroups with identifiable attributes.

Practical implications

The results are discussed in relation to how post‐compulsory education institutions can define the sustainability characteristics of their students and to the pedagogic literature that addresses diversity in student groups.

Originality/value

The approach may help higher education institutions better understand the needs of individual students within large groups and to develop appropriate support programmes for students with similar attributes and needs.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 January 2015

Jane Lu Hsu and Ting-Yu Lin

The purpose of this paper is to examine people’s knowledge about carbon reduction, environmental consciousness, carbon reduction intentions, and behaviours in Taiwan. The…

1309

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine people’s knowledge about carbon reduction, environmental consciousness, carbon reduction intentions, and behaviours in Taiwan. The importance of this study is to reveal whether individuals with higher carbon reduction knowledge level have higher carbon reduction intentions and further take actions.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, eight questions about the causes and facts of carbon emissions were designed to examine respondents’ levels of knowledge. The New Ecological Paradigm Scale was utilised to measure respondents’ attitudes towards the environment and further to examine how those attitudes were linked to knowledge. Ten questions related to carbon reduction intentions in food consumption, transportation, energy saving, recycling and shopping were designed, another set of ten questions related to carbon reduction behaviours were included in the questionnaire. A formal survey using personal interviews was administered in Taipei, Taiwan following the age and gender distributions of the population.

Findings

Findings in this study indicate that people with higher knowledge levels about carbon reduction have a stronger environmental consciousness; however, they tend to have higher intentions in carbon reduction but not in actions. Findings in this study reveal that knowledge levels about carbon reduction cannot be used as indicators of carbon reduction behaviours.

Practical implications

The findings in this study provide information for the veracity of the general public with relatively high education levels and are aware of the severity of the carbon emission issue in Taiwan but not motivated to take actions in carbon reduction. Implications of this study are that although enhancing the general public’s environmental consciousness by building up their relevant knowledge of carbon reduction through education can be essential, encourage individuals to make environmentally friendly purchasing decisions, reduce energy consumption and waste, recycle, and be conservative with materials not easily decomposed naturally is fundamental.

Originality/value

Due to the fact that people living on islands and in densely populated coastal areas are those affected by climate changes severely, findings in this study provide valuable information for the education of the general public in Taiwan and other countries in the region.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2021

Filiz Yildirim, Hatice Öztürk and Bilge Abukan

The purpose of this paper is to assess the views of social workers concerning theoretical and practical courses covering their professional responsibilities, focussing on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the views of social workers concerning theoretical and practical courses covering their professional responsibilities, focussing on sustainable development and the natural environment. It also investigates the impact on their attitudes towards sustainable development referencing their adoption of ecocentric or anthropocentric attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a structural equation model to answer six research questions, while the descriptive statistics answered one of the research questions through an online survey conducted with 315 social workers.

Findings

This study demonstrated the need to consider attitudes to sustainable development focussing on the ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes, as well as the current COVID-19 global pandemic.

Originality/value

This study is the first initiative to examine attitudes towards sustainable development and the natural environment from a social work perspective focussed on the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it is the first to emphasise the responsibilities of social workers in relation to micro, meso and macro level interventions during and after the global pandemic.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 22 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

1 – 10 of 476