Modeling Pro-Environmental Behavior Among Iranian Agricultural and Natural Resources Students Using an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract Environmental crises increasingly threaten human well-being and ecological systems, and many contemporary environmental problems are directly or indirectly related to human behavior. This study modeled the factors underlying pro-environmental behavior among Iranian agricultural and natural resources students using an extended theory of planned behavior (EXP-TPB). A descriptive-correlational survey was conducted among students at the Khuzestan University of Agriculture and Natural Resources in southwestern Iran during the 2022–2023 academic year (N = 1,753). Using proportionate stratified random sampling, 161 students were selected; data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a 46-item, five-point Likert instrument and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS. The model showed that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and environmental concern jointly explained 61.9% of the variance in environmental intention, while behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control explained 40.3% of the variance in pro-environmental behavior. Environmental concerns and environmental values also explained 41.2% of the variance in environmental attitude. The findings support the usefulness of an extended TPB framework for understanding students’ pro-environmental behavior and highlight the importance of educational and institutional interventions that strengthen environmental concern, favorable attitudes, supportive norms, and perceived behavioral control.