The role of environmental beliefs in determining the self-reported personal conservation behaviour of Indonesian preservice biology teachers

Indonesia is the most populated country in Southeast Asia, and the fourth most populous country in the world, after China, India, and the United States (Permadi et al., 2017; Streets et al., 2003). Indonesia is also known for its richness of diversity of plant and animal species, and often is referred to as a mega-biodiverse country, together with Brazil (Arifin & Nakagoshi, 2011; Margono et al., 2014). Many plants and animals are endemic species of the various Indonesian ecosystems. However, today, some of the native species, such as the Lesser One-horned rhinoceros (Brook et al., 2014), Sumatran tiger (Linkie et al., 2003), and bird-of-paradise (Riley, 2001), are reported to be decreasing in number and population. These trends may change the status of some species to endangered species. Indonesian and international environmentalists and ecologists have argued that the decreasing numbers of native plant and animal species in Indonesia are caused by several environmental degradations that are apparent in Indonesia (Edinger et al., 1998; Permadi et al., 2017). These include high rates of air pollution, forest fires, inappropriate practices in agricultural sectors, and unstructured recycling systems (Margono et al., 2014; Permadi et al., 2017; Streets et al., 2003). These environmental problems threaten the existence of native plant and animal species, by slowly destroying their natural habitats. Based on the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC (2014), such eminent environmental degradations are mainly the results of human activity. Therefore, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment (Kantor Menteri Negara Lingkungan Hidup, 2004) acknowledge the need to educate Indonesian citizens to behave more friendly towards the environment.

Human activity or behaviour towards the environment has been one of the longstanding topics in the field of environmental education and psychology. Various theories have been proposed to explain the mechanism of human behaviours towards the environment, to better understand the components of human behaviour, so that appropriate intervention can be taken to obtain a more friendly human behaviour towards the environment. One of the well-known behavioural change theories, called the theory of reasoned action, was proposed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1980), and later revised into the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991). The theory explains that intention to behave is the only antecedent of expressed environmental behaviour. This intention to behave is derived from attitudes and beliefs. However, several recent studies have criticized TPB, and the critics have put forward another well-known behavioural change theory proposed by Stern (2000), called value-belief-norm (VBN) theory, which states that behaviour is derived from moral norms. A dichotomy is found from this theory, which also states that the individual’s general beliefs towards the environment may also be considered as a key or most important predictor of one’s environmental behaviour; the findings from several studies have supported this (e.g., Fonara et al., 2016; Corral-Verdugo et al., 2008; Hawcroft & Milfont, 2010).

Additionally, Dunlap et al. (2000) found that environmental attitudes explain more variance of the individual’s environmental behaviour, and several other findings also support this finding (e.g., Barr, 2007; Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). These different theories and findings have resulted in confusion in explaining and predicting the individual’s environmental behaviour. In response to this issue, Johnson, Bowker, and Cordell (2004) and Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002) argued that the variety of sample and population, such as culture, country, and level of education, used as the subject of the investigation, contribute to obtaining different results. Therefore, the current research aimed to examine what kind of psychological traits related to environmental behaviour significantly predict and influence the Indonesian population, so that policy or even specific educational programs can be taken into account, to tackle the less than environmental-friendly behaviour that Indonesian people have been demonstrating. To do so, the current research tested a model of Indonesian environmental-related psychological traits by performing structural equation modeling (SEM) on environmental beliefs, attitudes, intention, and behaviour. SEM is considered as one appropriate method to uncover the pathways and correlations of several psychological traits (Kaplan, 2009).

The current research focuses on revealing the environmental-related psychological traits of Indonesian preservice biology teachers, given that the population has only received limited attention in previous studies. Another reason is that the Indonesian science teachers, especially the biology teachers, play an important role in influencing the environmental behaviour of students or future citizens because they are given full authority to teach the environmental education subject in primary and secondary education. This full authority is given to them because there is no program at the university level to prepare environmental educators for primary, secondary, or even tertiary educational levels. This is also as a result of the impact of the comparatively recent embedding of Indonesian environmental education in the national curriculum, given that it was only in 2006 that the Indonesian government began implementation and the embedment of environmental education (EE), as well as environmental science education, in the national curriculum (Indonesian Ministry of Environment, 2012). Consequently, no university is ready and has a mature program to prepare the environmental educator.

Moreover, instead of opening a program at universities focused on preparing environmental educators, the content of environmental education curriculum has been integrated into the curricula of science teacher education, such as for biology, physics, and chemistry teacher education. To date, most biology teachers teach the environmental science subject, because assumptions about the environment are highly correlated with discussions in biology (Parker, 2016; Nomura, 2009). Therefore, preparing biology teachers with more pro-environmental beliefs, intentional attitudes, and behaviour towards the environment may be crucial to improving the Indonesian environment.

Prior to the methods, findings, and discussion of the current research, a literature review regarding environmental beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour is provided below. This literature review is used to build the hypotheses that are presented in the tested model. Descriptions of Indonesian environmental-related culture and education are also provided. Finally, the research questions are proposed.

Theoretical framework

A rich literature in environmental education, psychology, and even policy has gained the conception that the emergence of environmental problems today is caused by how humans interact with, act with, and what they do to nature and the environment, called environmental behaviour (Gatersleben et al., 2002). There have been many studies uncovering human behaviour towards the environment, from specific behaviour, such as recycling behavior (e.g. Chan & Bishop, 2013; Lakhan, 2017), animal and plant conservation behaviour (Kruse & Card, 2004; Lloro-Bidart, 2018), or organic farming (e.g. Fairwether & Campbell, 2003), to general pro-environmental behaviour (e.g. Carfora et al., 2017). These studies have mainly been conducted in order to seek how people behave towards the environment in their daily life. Moreover, many of the previous studies have been done without directly observing people’s behaviour, but by using survey questions of whether they engage in such particular pro-environmental related behaviours or not, called self-reported behaviour. Indeed, Gatersleben et al. (2002) argued that direct observation is considered as the accurate method to uncover the individual’s environmental behaviour, but it requires more effort and time. Regardless of bias in the results, Gatersleben, Steg, and Vlek (2002) and Chao and Lam (2011) suggested the use of the self-reported method to gain a more efficient result, especially for the use of quantitative study. Therefore, the current study followed these previous studies to explore environmental behaviour through the use of self-reported behaviour.

Environmental behaviour is known as the expression or actualization of several psychological traits that people have in their mind. Gatersleben et al. (2002) stated that expressed behaviour is difficult to change. The underlying psychological traits are the key points to change an individual’s behaviour towards the environment, and many have even argued that those traits are easier to change through particular interventions (Pooley & O’Conner, 2000). Several well-known underlying psychological traits of the individual’s environmental behaviour include values, beliefs, attitudes, and intention. To date, many are still debating which of those traits have a direct effect on the expressed behaviour, even though they are parts of one mechanism (de Leeuw et al., 2015; Lakhan, 2017; Pooley & O’Conner, 2000). Hence, those still debated traits motivated the current study to investigate which mechanism work best in representing the environmental behaviour of Indonesian preservice biology teachers. Therefore, Indonesian higher education policymakers can consider which of the mechanisms can be more impactful to prepare more pro-environmentally behaved Indonesian teachers.

One well-known theory of behavioural change that many have used in explaining environmental behaviour is the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The theory was proposed by Ajzen (1991) by extending the theory of reasoned action proposed by Fishbein and Ajzen (1980). According to TPB, the individual’s environmental behaviour is derived from individual’s intention to behave pro-environmentally, and one has control over his or her behaviour (perceived behavioural control). TPB also postulates that the individual’s behavioural intention is derived from several psychological traits, including importantly attitudes towards that behaviour, which are also rooted from beliefs. This mechanism of behaviour has been tested in a wide range of samples and environmental issues. For example, de Leeuw et al. (2015) used the TPB to uncover high-school students’ pro-environmental behaviour in more general issues, such as daily life activities. Yadav and Pathak (2017) used the theory to identify the green purchase behaviour of people in developing countries. In more specific issues, like the pro-environmental behaviour of hotel visitors conducted recently by Verma and Chandra (2018), the theory was evident in explaining environmental behaviour of hotel visitors. Similarly, Lakhan (2017) successfully used TPB to identify the pro-environmental behaviour of some ethnic minorities. This evidence motivated the current study to test and use the TPB in seeking whether it is well-fitted to the Indonesian preservice biology teacher sample. If so, the current study can later suggest some interventions, in order to influence the intention of Indonesian preservice biology teachers. The TPB was proposed as the hypothesis of the current study, and played the role of the backbone of the to-be-tested model that is visualized in Figure 1 (noted as H1).

Regardless of the many previous studies that have supported the TPB, some studies seeking the mechanism of environmental, health, or other behavioural traits have gained different findings that point to beliefs as one factor directly influencing behaviour (e.g. Corraliza & Berenguer, 2000; Cambell-Arvai, 2015; Sniehotta, Presseau, & Araújo-Soares; 2014). Even Sniehotta et al. (2014) criticized the TPB by raising some concerns about its validity and utility, due to the many different findings that do not align with the theory. Regarding the findings of a direct correlation between environmental beliefs and behaviour, Pickett-Baker and Ozaki (2008) identified consumer’s behavioural decisions to purchase pro-environmental products and found that people’s purchase of green products is highly correlated to their pro-environmental beliefs. Fairwether and Campbell (2003), who studied New Zealand farmers’ farming practices, found that conventional and modern farmers were different, based on their beliefs on the use of genetic engineering. Pooley and O’Conner (2000) found that in order to change people’s behaviour to be more pro-environmental through intervention, such as environmental education programs, strengthening their environmental beliefs is suggested as the most effective way.

The aforementioned findings have forwarded another theory that is often used in explaining the individual’s environmental behaviour, the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory proposed by Stern (2000). The VBN theory states that behaviour is directly derived from moral norms and general environmental beliefs. Corral-Verdugo et al. (2008), Fonara et al. (2016), and Hawcroft and Milfont (2010) have supported the use of this theory that environmental beliefs have a direct effect on, and are key predictors of environmental behaviour. Therefore, based on previous studies, the current study proposed the hypothesis that there is a significant direct effect from environmental beliefs to environmental behaviour, as it is noted as H2 in Figure 1.

Besides having a direct effect on the behaviour, previous studies also found that environmental beliefs are indirectly correlated to the behaviour mediated by environmental attitudes (e.g., Barr, 2007; Dunlap et al., 2000; Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002; Milfont & Duckitt, 2010). These findings recall many older findings and theories (e.g., Scott & Willits, 1994; Vining & Ebreo, 1992) that assume the direct effect of the individual’s environmental attitudes and behaviour. Thus, this assumption motivated the current study to advance one of the hypotheses in the model of the environmental behaviour of Indonesian preservice biology teachers. It can be seen in Figure 1 that this hypothesis is noted as H2.

Figure.1 Hypothesized model

Johnson et al. (2004) and Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002) noted that different findings of the environmental behaviour mechanism are obtained because previous studies have been carried out by using different samples with different socio-cultural backgrounds. Ethnicity (e.g. Lakhan, 2017; Johnson et al., 2004; Rachmatullah et al., 2020), gender (e.g. Johnson et al., 2004; Chan, 2001), and level of education (e.g. Johnson et al., 2004; de Leeuw et al., 2015) are found in most studies that explore environmental beliefs, attitudes, intention, and behaviour to be the determinants, and contribute to differences in the individual’s psychological traits related to the nature and environment. Therefore, reviews on Indonesian culture that are related to pro-environmental behaviour and the structure of environmental education are provided below, in order to gain more insight into these socio-cultural backgrounds that can help in discussing the findings.

Environmental-related cultures and environmental education in Indonesia

Not only is Indonesia known to be one of the mega-biodiverse countries, but it is also known to be one of the most linguistic, ethnic, and culturally diverse countries (Parker, 2016). Within this cultural diversity issue, Indonesian traditional culture has valued nature and the environment in more pro-environmental ways than what are demonstrated today, with the emergence of many critical environmental problems. For example, the Sundanese culture, one of the largest ethnic populations in Indonesia, considers nature and the environment should be respected as a protected entity (Koentjaraningrat, 1987). A traditional proverb that still exists in Sundanese society includes “Gunung talingakeun, leuweung kanyahokeun, kebon garaaeun, gawir awieun, lebak balongan, sampalan sawahan, walungan rempekan”, which means ‘protect the mountains, learn from the forests, cultivate the farms, plant bamboo in the cliffs, make ponds in the valley basins, use the lowland as rice fields, and plant the riverside with trees’. This proverb reflects, teaches, and nurtures pro-environmental beliefs or sustainable education to the Sundanese people (Koentjaraningrat, 1987; Indrawardana, 2012). Not only Sundanese ethnic, but other Indonesian ethnic populations, such as the Tobelo Dalam (Tamalane et al., 2014) and Balinese (Roth, 2014; Surata & Vipriyanti, 2018) also have the local wisdom of living in harmony with nature and the surrounding environment. Consequently, because of similarities in mostly ethnic local wisdom related to preservation and living in harmony with nature, the meaning of the Indonesia national motto, which is “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” has been extended from the original meaning of unity in diversity, by adding another point with regard to preserving and living harmoniously and in balance with nature and the environment (Tamalane et al., 2014).

Environmental education in Indonesia has been included in the national curriculum, and officially became a separate subject at primary and secondary school level from 2006 (Indonesian Ministry of Environment, 2012). Previously, as Nomura (2009) and Parker (2016) reviewed about environmental education in Indonesia, or usually called pendidikan lingkungan hidup (PLH), it has been embedded in science subjects, especially biology. In the new and revised version of the Indonesian curriculum of 2013, the environmental education subject still exists as a separate subject (Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture – Kementrian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c), and in science subjects, science teachers are also encouraged to emphasize the connection between scientific knowledge and environmental issues, as well as religious issues. One of the reasons for this emphasis in science subjects is the close relation between scientific knowledge and environmental issues so that by attempting to connect it with environmental issues, students are expected to have a more applicable mindset that can increase their pro-environmental awareness, beliefs, concerns, or even behaviour.

Additionally, religious teachings are also eminent in the Indonesian science and environmental education, especially in the new curriculum of 2013 and its revised version in 2015. Parker (2016) stated that Indonesia is known as a religious country, and religious teachings are a crucial part of Indonesian education and culture. Environmental and science education in Indonesia is delivered mostly by giving understanding to students that God creates nature and environment, and thus protecting it is part of obeying God. Parker (2016) commented that this religious environmental education in Indonesia is the best effort to increase Indonesians’ beliefs, awareness, concerns, and behaviour towards the environment because it fits with the Indonesian system of social and cultural life.

In all pre-university formal education – at the primary and secondary education level – it is compulsory to teach environmental education. The Indonesian environmental education mostly has the purpose of increasing students’ affective aspects towards the environment, such as their beliefs, attitudes, and concerns. However, like Frick, Kaiser and Wilson (2004) noted, affective aspects themselves are still not sufficient to make people behave more pro-environmentally; they also need to increase their knowledge. Thus, the environmental education in Indonesia is integrated into science education as well, with the main purpose of increasing students’ environmental knowledge (Sukarjita et al., 2014). This integration between science education and environmental education is also clearly shown in the framework of Indonesian science education visualized in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Framework of Indonesian science education (adopted from the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, 2016a, 2016b, 2016c).

As previously mentioned, most science teachers, especially biology teachers, teach environmental education to primary and secondary school students. The current study also reviews in advance the biology education program in one central-public educational studies-based University located in western Java Island. Based on the review, environmental concepts are taught in several distinct courses, such as the 2nd semester Environmental Science course that emphasizes the integration between increasing preservice teachers’ environmental knowledge and policies; the 4th semester Introductory of Environmental Impact Assessment course, which focuses on honing preservice teachers’ understanding of environmental problems, policies, and behaviour; and the 6th semester General Ecology course. Also, most other courses, like Botany and Zoology, frequently ask students to go into Nature to observe Nature, and conduct some field trips to understand the interdependence of natural components better. These methods also have the purpose of increasing their feeling of connectedness with nature and the environment.

Research questions

Based on the above background and theoretical framework, the research questions of this study are as follows:

Are there any gender and educational year differences in the environmental beliefs, attitudes, intention, and self-reported behaviour of Indonesian preservice biology teachers?
What is the most influential environmental psychological trait in the environmental behaviour of the Indonesian preservice biology teacher?
What do Indonesian preservice biology teachers think about behaving towards the environment?