Differentiated impact of politics-and science-oriented education on pro-environmental behavior: A case study of chinese university students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the differentiated impact of politics-and science-oriented education on pro-environmental behavior among university students. A questionnaire was designed and sent to more than 14,000 university students from 152 universities in China using the snowball sampling method. In the questionnaire, the environmental knowledge was divided innova-tively into two parts: Science-oriented knowledge spread by traditional environmental education and politics-oriented knowledge spread through political education. The structural equation model was used to understand the conduction path of pro-environmental knowledge, attitude, and behavior. It shows that politics-oriented knowledge has a quicker and stronger effect on improving behavior than science-oriented knowledge. Moreover, there is a significant positive correlation between science-and politics-oriented knowledge. However, the attitude is positively influenced by science-oriented knowledge, instead of politics-oriented knowledge. It suggests that traditional environmental education and political education should be integrated to promote the pro-environmental behavior of university students indirectly and directly, which may provide an opportunity for pro-environmental political education in other countries. The study contributes important theoretical and practical implications for environmental education and sustainable development.