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A Cross-Cultural Investigation of College Students' Environmental Decision-Making Behavior: Interactions among Cultural, Environmental, Decisional, and Personal Factors

Lee, Jae-Young
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1392299752

Abstract Details

2000, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources.
Cultivating citizens with the ability and willingness that are necessary for effectively taking part in the environmental decision-making process became one of the primary objectives of environmental education. To accomplish this goal, environmental educators are required to understand the learners’ psychological processes in judgement and decision. The present study was intended to investigate college students’ decision-making behavior regarding four environmental issues in terms of decision effort. Methodologically, this study combined a 2 (Koreans vs. Americans) X 2 (certain-tangible vs. uncertain-intangible environmental issues) causal-comparison design and a 2 (complex vs. simple tasks) X 2 (high vs. low personal costs) posttest only experimental design. The subjects comprised 157 American and 149 Korean college students. The decision complexity and personal cost as well as the order of decision problems were randomly assigned to the participants. Following the decision experiments, the subjects completed an attitude survey questionnaire and three different types of personality test including New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale (Dunlap and Van Liere, 1978), Experiential versus Rational Inventory (ERI, Epstein, 1994), and Local thinking style inventory (Sternberg-Wagner, 1997). Among four major independent variables, only decision complexity was found to consistently and significantly affect the amount of decision effort that was measured by decision time that the participants spent making a choice. The results of the present study confirmed some of the previously observed cultural differences: Collectivists are likely to feel larger decision stress, have higher tendency to avoid decisional conflicts, have lower decision confidence and self-esteem, and be more willing to follow the majority’s choice. There were, however, two findings opposite to the previous observations. First, the Korean subjects applied compensatory decision strategies more frequently than the American subjects. Second, there was no significant difference in information sources used by the two cultural groups. It was also revealed that there was no consistent difference in the amount of decision effort devoted by the two cultural groups across four decision conditions as well as four environmental issues. The American subjects were found to be more concerned with environmental issues, be more willing to act to solve the issues, and have more internalized Locus of Control over the issues than the Korean subjects. Several significant differences between the proponents and opponents were also observed in decision time, post-decisional evaluation, attitudes toward environmental issues, and judgements about the consequential impacts of a choice on themselves and others. Especially, difference between the expected reading time and measured decision time seemed to imply the proponents’ impetuous decision behavior. Some theoretical explanations of the observed cultural differences and the subjects’ impetuous decision behavior were discussed. As the results of post hoc analysis, a teaching technique, named `Six-Pairs’, was suggested concerning a social dilemma situation, and a non-linear relationship between decision complexity and decision effort was proposed. Finally, several recommendations for environmental educators and researchers were made with respect to more intensive use of experimental approaches and cognitive-behavioral theories developed in other fields.
Rosanne W. Forner (Advisor)
Garry D. McKenzie (Committee Member)
Thomas Koontz (Committee Member)
188 p.
Environmental Education; Natural Resource Management

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Citations

  • Lee, J.-Y. (2000). A Cross-Cultural Investigation of College Students' Environmental Decision-Making Behavior: Interactions among Cultural, Environmental, Decisional, and Personal Factors [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1392299752

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lee, Jae-Young. A Cross-Cultural Investigation of College Students' Environmental Decision-Making Behavior: Interactions among Cultural, Environmental, Decisional, and Personal Factors. 2000. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1392299752.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lee, Jae-Young. "A Cross-Cultural Investigation of College Students' Environmental Decision-Making Behavior: Interactions among Cultural, Environmental, Decisional, and Personal Factors." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2000. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1392299752

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1392299752
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.