IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i16p10048-d887664.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who Cares for Nature in Rural Areas? Exploration of Relationships between People’s Socio-Economic Characteristics and the Perception of Nature as a Value in Poland and Lithuania

Author

Listed:
  • Agnieszka Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska

    (Institute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS), Nowoursynowska 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Gintarė Vaznonienė

    (Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Vytautas Magnus University, Universitetas Str. 10, Akademija, LT-53361 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Bernardas Vaznonis

    (Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Vytautas Magnus University, Universitetas Str. 10, Akademija, LT-53361 Kaunas, Lithuania)

Abstract

Care for nature is becoming one of the most popular topics in the scientific discourse, not only from an environmental perspective, but also in terms of strengthening people’s environmental awareness and implementing sustainable development goals. The knowledge and understanding of rural inhabitants’ attitude towards nature and their pro-environmental behaviors based on socio-economic characteristics have been less studied compared to those of urban inhabitants. The research aim is to determine the rural inhabitants’ socio-economic characteristics that influence their care for nature in Poland and Lithuania. The European Social Survey (ESS) Round 4 (2008) and Round 9 (2018) data were used in the present study. The relationships between the rural residents’ attitudes towards nature and the socio-economic variables were assessed using the chi-square test and Cramer’s V measure. The findings have suggested that the importance of nature as a value in Poland is greater than in Lithuania. Different sets of statistically significant socio-economic variables were identified in the studied countries. The research has confirmed that gender and education play an important role in the attitude towards nature, as women and more educated people tend to care more for the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Agnieszka Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska & Gintarė Vaznonienė & Bernardas Vaznonis, 2022. "Who Cares for Nature in Rural Areas? Exploration of Relationships between People’s Socio-Economic Characteristics and the Perception of Nature as a Value in Poland and Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:16:p:10048-:d:887664
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/10048/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/10048/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Janetta Nestorová Dická & Alena Gessert & Lenka Bryndzová & Tamás Telbisz, 2020. "Behavioural Survey of Local Inhabitants’ Views and Attitudes about Slovak Karst National Park in Slovakia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Nicole V. DeVille & Linda Powers Tomasso & Olivia P. Stoddard & Grete E. Wilt & Teresa H. Horton & Kathleen L. Wolf & Eric Brymer & Peter H. Kahn & Peter James, 2021. "Time Spent in Nature Is Associated with Increased Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Annemarie Ruijsbroek & Mariël Droomers & Hanneke Kruize & Elise Van Kempen & Christopher J. Gidlow & Gemma Hurst & Sandra Andrusaityte & Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen & Jolanda Maas & Wim Hardyns & Karien St, 2017. "Does the Health Impact of Exposure to Neighbourhood Green Space Differ between Population Groups? An Explorative Study in Four European Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, June.
    4. Daniel J. Anderson & Tobias Krettenauer, 2021. "Connectedness to Nature and Pro-Environmental Behaviour from Early Adolescence to Adulthood: A Comparison of Urban and Rural Canada," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vaznonienė Gintarė, 2022. "Youth Attitudes to Nature and Climate Change: Evidence from European Social Survey," Management Theory and Studies for Rural Business and Infrastructure Development, Sciendo, vol. 44(4), pages 397-405, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anne-Sophie Denault & Maxim Bouchard & Jasmine Proulx & François Poulin & Véronique Dupéré & Isabelle Archambault & Marie Denise Lavoie, 2024. "Predictors of Pro-Environmental Behaviors in Adolescence: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-38, June.
    2. Lisa Dandolo & Klaus Telkmann & Christina Hartig & Sophie Horstmann & Sara Pedron & Lars Schwettmann & Peter Selsam & Alexandra Schneider & Gabriele Bolte & on behalf of the INGER Study Group, 2023. "Do Multiple Sex/Gender Dimensions Play a Role in the Association of Green Space and Self-Rated Health? Model-Based Recursive Partitioning Results from the KORA INGER Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Azmi Al Bahij & Lativa Qurrotaini & Nada Nabila Madofi & Ari Suryawan, 2025. "The Impact of Pro-Environmental Behavior on Student Well-Being," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(4), pages 4040-4046, April.
    4. Carly E. Gray & Peter H. Kahn & Joshua J. Lawler & Pooja S. Tandon & Gregory N. Bratman & Sara P. Perrins & Yian Lin & Frances Boyens, 2023. "Time Spent Interacting with Nature Is Associated with Greater Well-Being for Girl Scouts Before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Leszek S. Dąbrowski & Stefania Środa-Murawska & Paweł Smoliński & Jadwiga Biegańska, 2022. "Rural–Urban Divide: Generation Z and Pro-Environmental Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Andrea Guazzini & Giulia Valdrighi & Maria Fiorenza & Mirko Duradoni, 2025. "The Relationship Between Connectedness to Nature and Pro-Environmental Behaviors: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-43, April.
    7. Zhang, Zhengyong & Cui, Wanjing & Deng, Xiaoxiao, 2025. "Can executive green experience improve enterprise total factor productivity? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    8. Gabriele Bolte & Sarah Nanninga & Lisa Dandolo, 2019. "Sex/Gender Differences in the Association between Residential Green Space and Self-Rated Health—A Sex/Gender-Focused Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-17, November.
    9. Matthew H. E. M. Browning & Alessandro Rigolon, 2018. "Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, July.
    10. Elaine Hoffimann & Henrique Barros & Ana Isabel Ribeiro, 2017. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Green Space Quality and Accessibility—Evidence from a Southern European City," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-16, August.
    11. Hope Foley & Matthew Leach & Xiaoqi Feng & Thomas Astell-Burt & Eric Brymer, 2023. "Towards Key Principles for the Design and Implementation of Nature Prescription Programs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-14, June.
    12. Judith‐Maria Maruschke & Daniel Schiller, 2025. "Understanding Among Societal Groups as a Prerequisite for Constructive Conflict Handling in Sustainable Land Use Change," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 5704-5718, August.
    13. Kaili Chen & Tianzheng Zhang & Fangyuan Liu & Yingjie Zhang & Yan Song, 2021. "How Does Urban Green Space Impact Residents’ Mental Health: A Literature Review of Mediators," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-27, November.
    14. Young-Jae Kim & Eun Jung Kim, 2020. "Neighborhood Greenery as a Predictor of Outdoor Crimes between Low and High Income Neighborhoods," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-13, February.
    15. Jovana Brankov & Jasna Micić & Jelena Ćalić & Jelena Kovačević-Majkić & Ranko Milanović & Tamás Telbisz, 2022. "Stakeholders’ Attitudes toward Protected Areas: The Case of Tara National Park (Serbia)," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-25, March.
    16. Ghulam Jilani & Guangqin Yang & Irfan Siddique, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Pro-Environmental Behavior of the Individuals from the Perspective of Protection Motivation Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-20, December.
    17. repec:osf:osfxxx:hcwgp_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Wang Hongxin & Mohammed Arshad Khan & Jian Zhenqiang & Laura-Mariana Cismaș & Mohammad Athar Ali & Usama Saleem & Lucia Negruț, 2022. "Unleashing the Role of CSR and Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior for Organizational Success: The Role of Connectedness to Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, March.
    19. Shruti Ashish Lahoti & Shalini Dhyani & Mesfin Sahle & Pankaj Kumar & Osamu Saito, 2024. "Exploring the Nexus between Green Space Availability, Connection with Nature, and Pro-Environmental Behavior in the Urban Landscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-15, June.
    20. , Marcin Wozniak & Radzimski, Adam & Wajchman-Świtalska, Sandra, 2024. "Is More Always Better? Evaluating Accessibility to Parks and Forests in 33 European Cities Using Sustainable Modes of Transportation," OSF Preprints hcwgp, Center for Open Science.
    21. Yonggeng Xiong & Min Xu & Yan Zhao, 2024. "Resident Preferences for Urban Green Spaces in Response to Pandemic Public Health Emergency: A Case Study of Shanghai," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-25, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:16:p:10048-:d:887664. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.