Neaman Alexander
University of Tarapacá, Arica, Chile.
Psychol Russ. 2025 Jun 1;18(2):141-154. doi: 10.11621/pir.2025.0209. eCollection 2025.
Addressing global environmental challenges requires an understanding the factors that influence pro-environmental behaviour.
This review summarises Chilean research that explores how environmental knowledge, nature connection, and prosociality influence such behaviour. The review summarises Chilean studies on these driving factors and discuss their implications for environmental education strategies.
A focussed review was conducted of Chilean studies that employed the General Ecological Behaviour (GEB) scale. This self-reported measure captures a wide range of pro-environmental actions (e.g., recycling, conservation efforts) and environmentally harmful behaviours. The review acknowledges the existence of broader Latin American research on this topic.
The review highlights the importance of specific types of environmental knowledge for pro-environmental behaviour. Knowledge about human impact on ecosystems (human-impact system knowledge) and knowledge of actionable solutions (action knowledge) emerged as key determinants. Interestingly, a knowledge deficit regarding personal effectiveness in environmental protection (effectiveness knowledge) was evident in the Chilean population. In addition, the review emphasises the role of prosocial tendencies, mediated by nature connection, in driving pro-environmental behaviour.
Developing effective environmental education programmes in Chile should prioritise fostering diverse environmental knowledge and strengthening connections with nature. Both environmental knowledge and nature connection can empower individuals and leverage prosocial motivations for positive environmental action. A key limitation of the Chilean studies reviewed are their reliance on cross-sectional data. This type of data allows for the identification of associations but cannot definitively establish causation. To strengthen the causal inferences, future research should employ interventional study designs.
应对全球环境挑战需要了解影响环保行为的因素。
本综述总结了智利的研究，这些研究探讨了环境知识、与自然的联系和亲社会行为如何影响此类行为。该综述总结了智利关于这些驱动因素的研究，并讨论了它们对环境教育策略的影响。
对采用一般生态行为（GEB）量表的智利研究进行了重点综述。这种自我报告的测量方法涵盖了广泛的环保行动（如回收利用、保护努力）和对环境有害的行为。该综述承认拉丁美洲在这一主题上存在更广泛的研究。
该综述强调了特定类型的环境知识对环保行为的重要性。关于人类对生态系统影响的知识（人类影响系统知识）和可采取行动的解决方案的知识（行动知识）成为关键决定因素。有趣的是，智利人群中明显存在关于个人在环境保护中的有效性的知识不足（有效性知识）。此外，该综述强调了亲社会倾向在自然联系的介导下对推动环保行为的作用。
在智利制定有效的环境教育计划应优先培养多样化的环境知识，并加强与自然的联系。环境知识和与自然的联系都可以增强个人能力，并利用亲社会动机推动积极的环境行动。所综述的智利研究的一个关键局限性是它们依赖横断面数据。这种类型的数据可以识别关联，但不能明确确定因果关系。为了加强因果推断，未来的研究应采用干预性研究设计。
