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Students’ Care for Dogs, Environmental Attitudes, and Behaviour

Author

Listed:
  • Gregor Torkar

    (Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, SL-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Tina Fabijan

    (Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, SL-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Franz X. Bogner

    (Chair of Biology Education, Centre for Mathematics & Science Education, University of Bayreuth, D-95477 Bayreuth, Germany)

Abstract

Does the act of caring for a dog have a substantial connection to the environmental values and behaviours of children? The scientific current literature contains little empirical research regarding the effect of pet ownership on environmental attitudes and behaviours in children. The Two Factor Model of Environmental Values (2-MEV) scale and the General Ecological Behaviour (GEB) scale were applied to measure environmental attitudes/values and ecological behaviours aligned with the Children’s Care for Dogs Questionnaire (CTDQ) to measure individual care for dogs. The subjects were Slovenian adolescents in primary education and lower secondary education. A clear relationship emerged: students that reported a better level of care for their pet dogs tended to engage in more environmentally responsible behaviours. Preservation and utilization attitudes had no significant influence on caring for a dog. Female students tended to report better care for dogs and practiced environmental behaviour more often. Younger students scored higher on the preservation values and practiced environmental behaviour more often. Overall, this study provides an evidence-based framework for educational initiatives that aim to include long-term care for animals. This study proposes a method with which educational programs could achieve the goal of fostering environmental behaviours.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregor Torkar & Tina Fabijan & Franz X. Bogner, 2020. "Students’ Care for Dogs, Environmental Attitudes, and Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-11, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1317-:d:319321
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Constantinos C. Manoli & Bruce Johnson & Sanlyn Buxner & Franz Bogner, 2019. "Measuring Environmental Perceptions Grounded on Different Theoretical Models: The 2-Major Environmental Values (2-MEV) Model in Comparison with the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Henry Kaiser, 1970. "A second generation little jiffy," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 35(4), pages 401-415, December.
    3. Franz X. Bogner & Johann C. Brengelmann & Michael Wiseman, 2000. "Risk-taking and environmental perception," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 49-62, March.
    4. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    5. Franz X. Bogner, 2018. "Environmental Values (2-MEV) and Appreciation of Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-10, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rūtenis Jančius & Algirdas Gavenauskas, 2022. "The Influence of Values and Social Environment on Parents’ Environmental Attitudes: Lithuanian Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Marc O. Williams & Lorraine Whitmarsh & Geoffrey Haddock & Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost, 2021. "A Grounded Theory of Pro-Nature Behaviour: From Moral Concern to Sustained Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.

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