2011 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 13-29
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the environmental education programs for mountain hikers carried out at mountain huts (YAMA-GOYA) in the Southern Alps. The results of the analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) are as follows.
Notes
risk: cognition of risk of environmental devastation
responsibility: cognition of responsibility for environmental conservation
cost: cognition of cost of environment-conscious behavior
carry-out bags: Ziploc bags for human waste disposal
(also known as WAG-Waste Alleviation and Gelling-bags)
evaluation: evaluation of environmental education
deviation from the mountain trail: an act of taking an intentional detour because of the bad conditions of the mountain trail
① Environmental education proved to be quite effective in "facilitation of risk" and "facilitation of responsibility," but not in "reduction of cost." Recognizable relations were found among "environment-conscious behavior," "reduction of cost," "risk," and "evaluation." Similar relations were also found between hikers' deviation from the mountain trail and "facilitation of risk," and between their use of carry-out bags and "reduction of cost."
② There are sex differences in the effects of environmental education. The effects are greater on females in terms of "facilitation of responsibility," and a stronger relation between "environment-conscious behavior" and "reduction of cost" can be found in females. "Risk" has a stronger influence on females in "evaluation."
③ There are generational differences in the effects of environmental education-differences between the two age groups, "40 and above" and "below 40." In this study, we could not make a generational comparison between these two groups using SEM, but our analysis of the responses to the questionnaire offers the following suggestions: the group of "40 and above" shows greater "facilitation of risk" and "reduction of cost," and a larger proportion of respondents in that group consider environmental education to be effective, showing a tendency to have a deep understanding of mountain environmental problems.
