How Should We Teach Nature Protection? Self-Determination and Environmental Attitudes
Environmental attitudes are supportive for learning about the environment and for pro-environmental engagement. The question, then, is how to strengthen and establish environmental attitudes. Based on a sample of 429 middle and high school students, we investigated the effect of self-determination-b...
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MDPI AG,
2023-03-01T00:00:00Z.
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| Summary: | Environmental attitudes are supportive for learning about the environment and for pro-environmental engagement. The question, then, is how to strengthen and establish environmental attitudes. Based on a sample of 429 middle and high school students, we investigated the effect of self-determination-based motivation on environmental attitude. While high levels of self-determination (i.e., intrinsic motivation) positively affected pro-environmental attitude (β = 0.40), low levels of self-determination (i.e., external regulation) negatively affected attitude (β = -0.31). Our data further pointed to a distinct trajectory of self-determination and inclusion of nature throughout adolescence (high scores for 12-year-olds that decline to a minimum around 15-16-years old); a trend that has already been shown for environmental attitude. Such a dip might help derive teaching recommendations in environmental education, e.g., by supporting high scores in time to attenuate a decline. Further teaching recommendations include strengthening students' self-determination through their basic needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). |
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| Item Description: | 10.3390/educsci13040353 2227-7102 |