Greening The Future: Investigating The Relationship Between Demographic Characteristics, Attitudes, And Actions Among Youth

Abstract

Abstract

This study explores how environmentally oriented attitudes among young individuals aged between 14 and 25 are reflected in their sustainability-related behaviors. Three research questions (Q) guide the investigation: Q1. What patterns emerge in the environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors of youth in European Capitals of Culture (ECoC) cities? Q2. Do the demographic characteristics of the youth of ECoC cities affect their green attitudes and their green actions? Q3. How does attitude turn into real action? Data were collected through a computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) survey conducted between April and June 2022 among young people in four European Capitals of Culture located in Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, and Hungary. The dataset (n = 712) was examined using descriptive statistical techniques together with association analyses based on Cramer's V and Kendall's tau coefficients. The findings reveal that positive environmental attitudes among young people are not consistently translated into pro-environmental actions. There are weak and moderate relationships between green attitude and action. The results can provide practical guidance for decision-makers in the fields of education, sociology, and marketing. These findings enrich the literature on the environmental attitude–behavior nexus and provide a basis for comparative investigations in other countries and cultural settings.