Environmental Education: Sustainable Behavior and Psychological Wellbeing of Students

Abstract: There is a common understanding that EE can transform students' knowledge and attitudes towards sustainability. EE not only helps individuals be better able to make more environmentally conscious choices, but it also helps them to be more emotionally resilient, environmentally conscious, and healthy in general. The ways in which EE improves students' mental health and sustainable behavior are examined in this research. The study deals with the cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects of environmental learning, based on the concepts of education, psychology and environmental science. The relationship between people and nature (mentalistic correctness), selfefficacy and prosaic behavior improved when EE was communicated into curricula through participative and value based EE than when EE was communicated through eco-anxiety control, while there was an increase in environmental identification and self-wellbeing in EE communicated into curricula through participative and value based EE than in EE communicated through eco-anxiety control. We suggest a few ideas for schools and universities to incorporate a psychologically informed EE approach that considers the needs of the whole child. With growing evidence of ecoanxiety, this research and findings will help further the understanding of how EE can be a support to students' mental health.