Exploring pro-environmental behavior in Peruvian basic education students: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

  Introduction: Pro-environmental behavior constitutes an essential topic within contemporary environmental research. In a global context where awareness of environmental challenges is constantly growing, understanding how students relate to their environment and adopt practices that promote sustainability becomes imperative. Objective: To assess the pro-environmental behavior of fifth-grade secondary education students. Methods: A quantitative, non-experimental, and cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. The sample consisted of 164 students of both sexes who were administered the Environmental Behavior Questionnaire, an instrument with adequate metric properties. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis, and the non-parametric Chi-Square test was employed to determine if pro-environmental behavior was significantly associated with proposed sociodemographic variables. Results: It was found that the pro-environmental behavior of 28% of students was occasional, 23.7% was uncommon, 19.5% was habitual, 18.8% was not habitual, and 10% was very habitual. When evaluating dimensions, it was also found that recycling and reusing, resource conservation, and environmental purchasing were predominantly valued at the occasional level. Likewise, a significant association was determined between pro-environmental behavior and students' sex (p<0.05). Conclusions: The pro-environmental behavior of fifth-grade secondary education students was assessed as occasional. Therefore, it is recommended that educational authorities develop educational programs and awareness campaigns to promote the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors