Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2007. Sectio Scientarium Economicarum et Socialium. (Acta Academiae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 34)

Chambliss Karen-Slotkin Michael H.-Vámosi Alexander R.: A 'javító' fenntarthatóság a'steady-state' fenntarthatóság és a strukturált ökoturizmus

A 'javító' fenntarthatóság.. 31 relevance of environmental issues, b) volunteering at local wildlife and/or nature festivals, and c) revealing a preference to financially support organizations that address environmental issues.

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3 A principle component analysis, applied on a group of five-point Likert-scaled items, uncovered the following six factors, which encapsulate dimensions concerning environmental issues. - Attitude Towards the Environment

—personal attitude towards the preservation of the environment/wildlife - Environmental Knowledge

—knowledge and awareness of current environmental issues. - Public Policy Outcomes

—perceptions and opinions about environmental policy outcomes in the U.S. - Stakeholder Responsibility

—opinions about the role of the individual and role of the government in environmental preservation. - Personal Relevance

—relevance of environmental issues for self. - Interrelationship

—attitudes about the relationship between human and environmental well-being. Estimates from a multiple regression show that all six factors significantly influence the ACTIVISM construct. Moreover, regressions on the individual and paired-items, which comprise the construct, confirm that the three most significant variables are personal attitude towards the environment, environmental knowledge, and public policy outcomes. Environmental activism is positively related to both personal attitude towards the environment and environmental knowledge, but is inversely related to perceptions (beliefs) about public policy outcomes.

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4 Turning to the issue of enhancive sustainability, the authors estimate a series of binomial logistic regressions using, as dependent variables, Yes/No responses to the following three statements. - Within the past two years, 1 have signed petitions urging government and other organizations to protect wildlife and/or nature. - I am an active member of a wildlife or nature preservation organization. - I provide contributions to wildlife or nature preservation organizations. Consistent with the findings associated with activism, environmental knowledge strongly predicts affirmative responses for all three items. In comparison, personal attitude towards the environment influences contributions only, while public policy outcomes affect both contributions and the signing of petitions, but does not affect j 3 The three items are each measured on a five-point Likert scale. 1

4 The result associated with public policy outcomes is noteworthy. Negative perceptions and attitudes toward public policy outcomes generate a greater level of commitment to ACTIVISM. Stated differently, when respondents deem public policy initiatives to be inadequate, their commitment to actively engage in environmental preservation strengthens.