Values, beliefs and norms that foster Chilean and German pupils’ commitment to protect biodiversity

Abstract

Fostering young people‟s commitment to protect biodiversity is an important goal of Edu-cation for Sustainable Development (ESD) in both, industrial countries and designated bio-diversity hotspots. However, little empirical evidence exists to describe factors that influ-ence such commitments. Based on the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory, 15 to 19-year-old Chilean (n= 216) and German (n= 217) pupils‟ commitment to protect biodiversity was in-vestigated. Comparisons revealed that Chilean adolescents showed higher personal norms and commitments to protect biodiversity. Regression analysis showed that within the Ger-man sample, the „Schwartz‟-value universalism was an important predictor for three differ-ent kinds of behavioural commitment. In both samples, „ascription of responsibility‟, „per-ceived ability to reduce threat‟ and, above all, „personal norms‟ were positive predictors. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results in the light of existing evidence and suggests implications for biodiversity education.