The Sustainable Development Goals Psychological Inventory: A Network Analysis in Italian University Students

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals Psychological Inventory (SDGPI) is a recently developed self-report questionnaire that assesses interest, motivation, and self-efficacy associated with each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advanced by the United Nations. This study aims to investigate, via network analysis, (a) the relationships between interest, motivation, and self-efficacy for each SDG and (b) the most central SDGs. To this end, 417 Italian university students (73.9% females and 26.1% males; mean age: 22.20; DS = 3.02) were assessed through the SDGPI, and two network structures were estimated. The first network structure investigates links (edges) between interest, motivation, and self-efficacy in relation to each specific SDG. The second network structure investigates most central SDGs as the sum of interest, motivation, and self-efficacy for each specific SDG. Regarding results, the first network structure showed that five SDGs had strong and statistically significant edges between interest, motivation, and self-efficacy; seven SDGs had strong and statistically significant edges between interest and motivation but not self-efficacy; five SDGs had no statistically significant edges linking the other dimensions. The second network structure revealed that SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy) were the most central nodes. Implications for research, tailor-made interventions, and prevention were discussed.