Factors Influencing Children's Environmental Attitudes

Abstract

In a study of 6th-grade students, it was found that ecologistic and moralistic attitudes toward the environment correlated with talking about the environment at home, watching nature Alms, and reading about the environment. There were no gender differences in ecologistic attitude, but girls showed higher moralistic attitude scores. A week-long Sunship Earth program at a residential camp did not produce any measurable differences in ecologistic or moralistic attitudes. Results suggest that the students entered the camp program with moderate levels of these attitudes, derived from several influences, including family, media, and previous school-based environmental education programs.

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Notes on contributors

Robert Demare

Paul F. J. Eagles is a professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Robert Demare is the director of Camp PineCrest for the YMCA of Greater Toronto.