Exploring Undergraduate Students’ Mental Models of the Environment: Are They Related to Environmental Affect and Behavior?

Abstract

A draw-and-explain task and questionnaire were used to explore Taiwanese undergraduate students’ mental models of the environment and whether and how they relate to their environmental affect and behavioral commitment. We found that students generally held incomplete mental models of the environment, focusing on objects rather than on processes or relations. Correlations revealed that students who had higher mental model scores tended to demonstrate higher levels of emotional connection and positive commitment to the environment. These findings suggest that a holistic and systemic view of the environment plays an important role in promoting pro-environmental attitudes and behavior.

Keywords:

• environmental affect
• environmental behavior, mental models
• undergraduate students
• understandings of the environment