Psycho-sociocultural Analysis of Attitude towards Littering in a Nigerian Urban City

Abstract

This study examined the influence of altruism, environmental self-efficacy, locus of control, self-concept, age, gender, and level of education as predictors of attitude towards littering among residents of some selected communities in Ibadan metropolis. An ex-post cross-sectional research design was adopted for this study. Using a multi-stage sampling technique, one thousand, three hundred and sixty participants participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 18 to 65 years. Data collection was through a battery of measures combined into a single questionnaire. Pearson product-moment correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, and One-Way ANOVA statistical techniques were tools of testing hypotheses. Findings indicated that a combination of altruism, environmental self-efficacy, locus of control, self-concept, age, and gender explained 57% of the variance in attitude towards littering. The relative contributions reveal that altruism (beta = -.23, p < .01), environmental selfefficacy (beta = -.18, p < .01); locus of control (beta =.34, p < .01), and self-concept (beta = -.51, p < .01) contribute significantly to attitude towards littering. Also, level of educational attainment has significant effect on attitude towards littering. These findings provide link between psychological factors and attitude towards littering, and suggest reasons for ineffectiveness of previous anti-littering campaigns among residents of Ibadan. Thus, the psychological variables in this study have implications for interventions on littering attitude.