Self-Reported Attitudes, Concerns, and Behaviors Related to Global Environmentalism: Can a Mandatory Class Make a Difference?

The purpose of the study was to determine what initial attitudes and behaviors first-year college students had about the environment and how they changed as a result of a taking a required global environmentalism course. A second goal in this study was to learn whether there were differences in environmental attitudes and behaviors based on gender and ethnicity. Participants in this study were first-year students at Old Dominion University enrolled in a mandatory general education course, New Portals to Appreciating the Global Environment (GEN 101 ). An online survey was completed that measured the participants' attitudes and behaviors related to the environment at the beginning and end of the semester. Repeated Measures ANOV As were performed in order to test for differences in attitudes, concerns, and behaviors based on time (pretest, posttest). Between subjects ANOVAs were used to test for differences in attitudes, concerns, and behaviors based on gender (male, female) and ethnicity (Black/AfricanAmerican, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and Caucasian). Hierarchical multiple regressions with interactions were used to determine which variables (i.e., gender, ethnicity, pretest scores, and their interactions) serve as predictors of environmental attitudes and behaviors. Results showed that there were significant changes in all of the dependent variables. However, only three of the dependent variables increased as hypothesized: students' pro-environmental group involvement, the frequency at which students utilize pro-environmental products, and the frequency at which students engage in other pro-environmental activities. All other variables significantly decreased over the semester. The second hypothesis was not supported as gender differences were not found. The third hypothesis was only partially supported as a significant ethnicity difference for environmental concern was found. Blacks reported significantly more environmental concern than Hispanics. Pretest scores for each measure as well as pretest environmental concern scores served as significant predictors of posttest scores for all measures. Implications of this research are discussed.