Associations Between First Opportunities for Becoming Aware of Environmental Issues and Current Pro-environmental Behavior

A Case Study of University Students

Abstract

This study explored the first opportunities for becoming aware of environmental issues, living environments, and nature experiences in early life and examined their associations to current pro-environmental awareness and behavior. Structural equation modeling analysis on questionnaire data on university students in Japan revealed that having nature experiences and loss of nature and environment as the first opportunities enhance current environmental awareness, leading to pro-environmental behavior. It also indicates that having rich nature in the living environment during the first opportunities is positively associated with present environmental awareness. These findings suggest the importance of exposure to nature in provoking environmental awareness in early life.