Audrey N. Tomera

Bio: Audrey N. Tomera is an academic researcher from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The author has contributed to research in topics: Science education & Environmental education. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 14 publications receiving 3365 citations.

Analysis and synthesis of research on responsible environmental behavior: A meta-analysis.

Abstract: Despite the wealth of information which exists concerning environmental behavior, it is not known which variable or variables appear to be most influential in motivating individuals to take responsible environmental action. A meta-analysis of environmental behavior research was undertaken in an attempt to determine this. An exhaustive search of the empirically based environmental behavior research conducted over the past decade yielded a substantial number of studies representative of a broad academic base. The characteristics and findings of these studies served as the data for the meta-analysis. As a result of the meta-analysis, the following variables were found to be associated with responsible environmental behavior: knowledge of issues, knowledge of action strategies, locus of control, attitudes, verbal commitment, and an individual's sense of responsibility. A model of predictors of environmental behavior is proposed.

Selected Predictors of Responsible Environmental Behavior: An Analysis

Abstract: In this study, we examined the relative contribution of eight variables in predicting responsible environmental behavior. Scores on a validated behavior instrument served as the criterion. High and low behavior groups selected from 171 respondents were compared using members of midwestern Sierra Clubs and Elderhostel programs as subjects. Multilinear regression analyses were used to determine the performance of each predictor variable and to ascertain the most parsimonious set of variables that predicts environmental behavior. Seven of eight variables were found to be statistically significant. They were: (1) level of environmental sensitivity, (2) perceived knowledge of environmental action strategies, (3) perceived skill in using environmental action strategies, (4) psychological sex role classification, (5) individual locus of control, (6) group locus of control, and (7) attitude toward pollution. The one nonsignificant variable was (8) belief in technology. Stepwise regression showed that the...

The Effects of Environmental Action and Environmental Case Study Instruction on the Overt Environmental Behavior of Eighth-Grade Students

Abstract: (1981). The Effects of Environmental Action and Environmental Case Study Instruction on the Overt Environmental Behavior of Eighth-Grade Students. The Journal of Environmental Education: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 24-29.

A National Survey of Curriculum Needs as Perceived by Professional Environmental Educators

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess perceived environmental education (EE) curriculum needs in the United States (K-16) The Environmental Education Curriculum Needs Assessment Questionnaire (EECNAQ) was developed, validated, and direct-mailed to 169 randomly selected professional environmental educators (586% return rate) The EECNAQ elicited perceptions about the desired status and the current state of EE curricula, the need for curriculum development, the anticipated use of curricula teachers, and the need for inservice teacher education These five major questions were posed relative to fifteen goals which reflected the Tbilisi objectives and four levels of environmental literacy The findings reveal a consensus among the professional participants that the EE goals are important ones, that they are not being met to a large extent in existing curricula, that extensive needs exist for both goal-oriented curricula and teacher education, and that the goaloriented curricula would be used by t

Effects of Two Residential Environmental Workshops on High School Students.

Abstract: High school students' knowledge of and participation in responsible environmental behaviors were compared after participation in a six-day residential environmental education workshop. One treatment group received instruction, for the most part at the awareness level, in environmental issues while the other group received instruction, also at the awareness level, in both environmental issues and action strategies. The results showed that those students receiving the issue awareness instruction failed to demonstrate an increase in their level of knowledge of environmental action and did not report participating in a significantly greater number of environmental behaviors. However, those students receiving instruction in both environmental issues and action strategies did demonstrate an increased level of knowledge of environmental action and reported participating in a greater number of environmental behaviors. Educational implications are also discussed.

Mind the Gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior?

Abstract: Numerous theoretical frameworks have been developed to explain the gap between the possession of environmental knowledge and environmental awareness, and displaying pro-environmental behavior. Although many hundreds of studies have been undertaken, no definitive explanation has yet been found. Our article describes a few of the most influential and commonly used analytical frameworks: early US linear progression models; altruism, empathy and prosocial behavior models; and finally, sociological models. All of the models we discuss (and many of the ones we do not such as economic models, psychological models that look at behavior in general, social marketing models and that have become known as deliberative and inclusionary processes or procedures (DIPS)) have some validity in certain circumstances. This indicates that the question of what shapes pro-environmental behavior is such a complex one that it cannot be visualized through one single framework or diagram. We then analyze the factors that have been f...

New Environmental Theories: Toward a Coherent Theory of Environmentally Significant Behavior

Abstract: This article develops a conceptual framework for advancing theories of environmentally significant individual behavior and reports on the attempts of the author’s research group and others to develop such a theory. It discusses definitions of environmentally significant behavior; classifies the behaviors and their causes; assesses theories of environmentalism, focusing especially on value-belief-norm theory; evaluates the relationship between environmental concern and behavior; and summarizes evidence on the factors that determine environmentally significant behaviors and that can effectively alter them. The article concludes by presenting some major propositions supported by available research and some principles for guiding future research and informing the design of behavioral programs for environmental protection. Recent developments in theory and research give hope for building the understanding needed to effectively alter human behaviors that contribute to environmental problems. This article develops a conceptual framework for the theory of environmentally significant individual behavior, reports on developments toward such a theory, and addresses five issues critical to building a theory that can inform efforts to promote proenvironmental behavior.

Are there social limits to adaptation to climate change

Abstract: While there is a recognised need to adapt to changing climatic conditions, there is an emerging discourse of limits to such adaptation. Limits are traditionally analysed as a set of immutable thresholds in biological, economic or technological parameters. This paper contends that limits to adaptation are endogenous to society and hence contingent on ethics, knowledge, attitudes to risk and culture. We review insights from history, sociology and psychology of risk, economics and political science to develop four propositions concerning limits to adaptation. First, any limits to adaptation depend on the ultimate goals of adaptation underpinned by diverse values. Second, adaptation need not be limited by uncertainty around future foresight of risk. Third, social and individual factors limit adaptation action. Fourth, systematic undervaluation of loss of places and culture disguises real, experienced but subjective limits to adaptation. We conclude that these issues of values and ethics, risk, knowledge and culture construct societal limits to adaptation, but that these limits are mutable.

Value Orientations, Gender, and Environmental Concern:

Abstract: A social-psychological model is developed to examine the proposition that environmentalism represents a new way of thinking. It presumes that action in support of environmental quality may derive from any of three value orientations: egoistic, social-altruistic, or biospheric, and that gender may be implicated in the relation between these orientations and behavior. Behavioral intentions are modeled as the sum across values of the strength of a value times the strength of beliefs about the consequences of environmental conditions for valued objects. Evidence from a survey of 349 college students shows that beliefs about consequences for each type of valued object independently predict willingness to take political action, but only beliefs about consequences for self reliably predict willingness to pay through taxes. This result is consistent with other recent findings from contingent valuation surveys. Women have stronger beliefs than men about consequences for self, others, and the biosphere, but there i...