The Relationship Between Academic Major and Environmentalism Among College Students: Is it Mediated by the Effects of Gender, Political Ideology and Financial Security?

Abstract

Several studies have found a relationship between college students’ academic majors and their environmental attitudes and behaviors. Results from this study of incoming first-year students at a medium-sized public university suggest that students majoring in different programs of study were likely to have different environmental attitudes and behaviors. There were also differences in the proportions of women, political liberals, and financially secure students in each of the different majors. When controlling for the effects of gender, political ideology, and financial security, incoming business majors scored lower on two of the four measures of environmentalism than incoming students in the other majors. The findings in this study suggest that incoming students choose majors that are consistent with their worldviews.

Keywords:

• academic major
• environmental attitudes
• environmental behavior