The Roles of Religiosity and Empathy in Shaping Pro-Environmental Behaviors and Positive Attitudes toward Animals: A Quantitative Study of Undergraduate and Graduate Students

Abstract: Recently, the links between pro-environmental behaviors, positive attitudes toward animals, and religiosity have become the subject of numerous studies from various disciplines, both nationally and internationally. The main aim of the study was to determine the link between religiosity and positive attitudes towards animals and pro-environmental behaviors, and to detect the mediating role of empathy in this relation. While existing studies have examined the relationship between religiosity and empathy, pro-environmental behaviors, or attitudes toward animals separately, no research to date has explored these variables together within a single framework or investigated empathy as a mediating factor. This study addresses how religiosity influences empathy, pro-environmental behaviors, and positive attitudes toward animals, and examines the mediating role of empathy in these relationships. In doing so, the study seeks to address a gap in existing literature. The participants of the study consist of 373 undergraduate and graduate students selected through convenience sampling. Of the study group, 54.2% (N=202) are female and 45.8% (N=171) are male, with an average age of 24.9 years (SD=5.75). Among the undergraduate students, 36.9% (N = 110) were enrolled in the Faculty of Theology, 17.4% (N = 52) in the Faculty of Engineering, and 10.0% (N = 30) in the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, while 35.5% (N = 106) were enrolled in other faculties such as Education and Health Sciences. Among the postgraduate students, 65.3% (N = 49) were affiliated with the Institute of Social Sciences, and 34.7% (N = 26) with the Institute of Health Sciences. In this current study, Religiosity Scale, Empathic Tendency Scale, Active Environmental Sensitivity Scale and Scale for Positive Behaviors towards Animals were utilized to collect data. Data for this study were collected from university students in Turkey during June and July 2024. The study was conducted during a period in which issues related to stray animals in Turkey were widely debated across various segments of society, coinciding with the enactment of legislation addressing the management of stray animals. The findings obtained from the study using structural equation modeling indicated that religiosity increases empathetic tendencies and pro-environment behaviors, while it decreases positive attitudes towards animals. Additionally, the research findings showed that empathy increases both pro-environmental behaviors and positive attitudes toward animals and that positive attitudes toward animals also clearly affect pro-environmental behaviors. The study also found that empathy plays a mediating role between religiosity and positive attitudes towards animals. Keywords: Psychology of Religion, Religiosity, Empathy, Pro-Environmental Behaviors, Positive Attitudes towards Animals.