Predictors of Pro-Environmental Behavior in Rural American Communities

Abstract

Place and community attachment, community satisfaction, and environmental attitudes have all been independently linked to environmental behaviors. However, few efforts have attempted to determine the relationship between these factors, and together, how they relate to pro-environmental behaviors. Moreover, few studies have analyzed these concepts and relationships in the context of rural and low amenity settings. This study integrates these factors in a conceptual framework and examines them in the context of rural, low amenity communities. Based on the analysis of data from a survey of residents in six small, rural communities in Kansas and Iowa (N = 1,088), we find that environmental attitudes and place attachment are the strongest predictors of self-reported pro-environmental behaviors, while community satisfactionincluding satisfaction with services and satisfaction with community leadership-is not a significant predictor. Recommendations for future research following the theoretical approach used in the study are presented.

The perceptions of social responsibility for community resilience to flooding: the impact of past experience, age, gender and ethnicity

“…As a consequence, they would display a greater interest to flood risk and uptake of resilience measures, which are representative of higher perceptions of SR. This supports previous research which found that greater pro-environmental behaviour was related to increasing age (Lindell and Whitney 2000;Siegel et al 2003;Takahashi and Selfa 2015) and higher perceived risk (Whitmarsh and O'Neill 2010;Floyd et al 2000;Neuwirth et al 2000). The significance of South Asian ethnic group suggests that participants from the South Asian ethnic group displayed a greater awareness and acceptance of flood risk and were more likely to adopt resilience measures than participants from the White and Black ethnic groups.…”

Evaluating determinants of rural Villagers’ engagement in conservation and waste management behaviors based on integrated conceptual framework of Pro-environmental behavior

“…Individuals who have a higher perception of environmental values may be more actively involved in PEBs than those who have a lower perception. Additionally, a positive relationship between place attachment and PEBs was found in many previous studies (Takahashi and Selfa 2015; Ramkissoon et al 2012). Place attachment means the emotional and/or functional bonds that a person constructs or develops toward a particular place (Tuan 1974; Williams and Carr 1993).…”

Structural relationships between environmental attitudes, recreation motivations, and environmentally responsible behaviors

“…In another study, environmental attitudes were useful in predicting interest in participating in ecofriendly activities (Juric, Cornwell, & Mather, 2002). Increasingly, carefully measured environmental attitudes are being shown to be associated with environmentally responsible behaviors (Polonsky, Vocino, Grimmer, & Miles, 2014;Takahashi & Selfa, 2014).…”