Education for future? Investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement – A multilevel moderated mediation analysis
Despite extensive literature emphasizing the role of education in promoting engagement in environmental movements, international comparative research has yet to fully elucidate the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Using data from 44,100 respondents across 28 countries in the ISSP's four...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Sustainable Futures |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001789 |
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| author | Matthias Penker Andrej Kirbiš |
| author_facet | Matthias Penker Andrej Kirbiš |
| author_sort | Matthias Penker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite extensive literature emphasizing the role of education in promoting engagement in environmental movements, international comparative research has yet to fully elucidate the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Using data from 44,100 respondents across 28 countries in the ISSP's fourth environmental module, we demonstrate that individuals' willingness to pay for environmental protection (WTP) partially mediates the relationship between education and environmental public sphere behavior (PSB). Furthermore, drawing on the Quality of Government literature, we show that the link between education and WTP is significantly stronger in countries with low levels of corruption, a pattern that extends to the indirect relationship between education and PSB. Although the magnitude of this relationship is reduced, the direct positive association between education and PSB persists even in high-corruption contexts. These findings underscore the transnational importance of education in shaping environmentally significant attitudes and behaviors, as well as the crucial role of corruption in moderating how education translates into both WTP and PSB. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c1a4351ae82f46f982efa233be31bf64 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2666-1888 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sustainable Futures |
| spelling | doaj-art-c1a4351ae82f46f982efa233be31bf642025-08-20T02:40:18ZengElsevierSustainable Futures2666-18882025-06-01910060810.1016/j.sftr.2025.100608Education for future? Investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement – A multilevel moderated mediation analysisMatthias Penker0Andrej Kirbiš1University of Graz, Center for Social Research, Austria; Corresponding author at: Universitätsstraße 15, 8010 Graz, Austria.University of Maribor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, SloveniaDespite extensive literature emphasizing the role of education in promoting engagement in environmental movements, international comparative research has yet to fully elucidate the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Using data from 44,100 respondents across 28 countries in the ISSP's fourth environmental module, we demonstrate that individuals' willingness to pay for environmental protection (WTP) partially mediates the relationship between education and environmental public sphere behavior (PSB). Furthermore, drawing on the Quality of Government literature, we show that the link between education and WTP is significantly stronger in countries with low levels of corruption, a pattern that extends to the indirect relationship between education and PSB. Although the magnitude of this relationship is reduced, the direct positive association between education and PSB persists even in high-corruption contexts. These findings underscore the transnational importance of education in shaping environmentally significant attitudes and behaviors, as well as the crucial role of corruption in moderating how education translates into both WTP and PSB.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001789Public sphere behaviourEnvironmental activismEducationModerated mediation analysisISSP |
| spellingShingle | Matthias Penker Andrej Kirbiš Education for future? Investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement – A multilevel moderated mediation analysis Sustainable Futures Public sphere behaviour Environmental activism Education Moderated mediation analysis ISSP |
| title | Education for future? Investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement – A multilevel moderated mediation analysis |
| title_full | Education for future? Investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement – A multilevel moderated mediation analysis |
| title_fullStr | Education for future? Investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement – A multilevel moderated mediation analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Education for future? Investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement – A multilevel moderated mediation analysis |
| title_short | Education for future? Investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement – A multilevel moderated mediation analysis |
| title_sort | education for future investigating the role of education in explaining active green engagement a multilevel moderated mediation analysis |
| topic | Public sphere behaviour Environmental activism Education Moderated mediation analysis ISSP |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001789 |
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