Predisposing factors of environmental citizenship behavior among Senior High School students in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana

ABSTRACT

Problems associated with environmental degradation abound in developing countries, with dire consequences on young people. Young people are the future leaders of the world. Therefore, their appreciation and behavior have the capacity to facilitate their commitment toward environmental citizenship. The paper examined the predisposing factors of environmental citizenship behavior among Senior High School students in the Cape Coast Metropolis. It was guided by the Value-Belief-Norm theory of environmentalism. Quantitative data collected from 292 Senior High School students within the metropolis was analyzed by using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicate that the students were predisposed to exhibiting pro-environmental behavior, in terms of their environmental values. The students had high biospheric and altruistic values which are prerequisite values, particularly for environmental citizenship behaviors. The study recommended that the students’ environmental engagements should be boosted by school authorities through environmental literacy. Environmental clubs in schools should also be supported by the Ghana Education Service in order to help nurture affinity for nature as well as promote the platform for public sphere environmental actions.

KEYWORDS:

• Predisposing factors
• environmental citizenship behavior
• Senior High School students
• egoistic value
• biospheric value
• altruistic value

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).