Environmental activism and pro-environmental behaviour in Serbia: Determinants and relationships with subjective well-being

Abstract

Environmentally significant behaviours, such as pro-environmental behaviour and environmental activism, have remained relatively ill-defined and poorly integrated to date. The relationship between environmental activism and subjective well-being is particularly unclear. Therefore, the aim of this research is to determine whether some socio-demographic characteristics, such as gender, age and level of education, predict pro-environmental behaviour and environmental activism, as well as whether these behaviours have some effect on subjective well-being. A total of 354 respondents (222 female; 62.7%) filled out the Environmental Responsibility Feelings Scale, the Ecological Behaviour Scale, and the Environmental Activism Scale. Utilizing a correlational study design, path analysis revealed that older respondents and those with a higher level of education exhibit more pro-environmental behaviour and environmental activism. The results also suggest that the feeling of responsibility towards the environment significantly predicts the level of environmental activism, but not pro-environmental behaviour. Gender did not show a significant effect on either pro-environmental behaviour or environmental activism. Finally, it was found that environmentally significant behaviours in this research were not related to subjective well-being. Possible explanations of the obtained results are offered, as well as guidelines for future research into these phenomena.

Keywords

• pro-environmental activism
• pro-environmental behaviour
• environmental responsibility feelings
• subjective well-being
• socio-demographic characteristics