Climate Change Risk Perception, Response Efficacy, and Environmentalism among University Undergraduates
Climate change is a threat to human societies and natural ecosystems and there is a growing interest in studies concerning the environment and particularly actions or advocacy to limit negative human impacts on the environment. This paper provides insights into the roles climate change risk perception and response efficacy of undergraduates play in holding environmentalist tendencies. Adopting a cross sectional survey design and using convenience sampling technique, 326 Undergraduate students (152 males) of Caritas University and Enugu State University of Science and Technology aging between 18 and 27 years (M= 22.23, SD=2.08) were sampled for the study. Results of the hierarchical multiple regression showed that, climate risk perception was a significant predictor of Utilization/Preservation dimensions of Environmentalism, (β = .90, t = 33.43, at P < .01; β = .90, t = 34.67, at P < .01) respectively. The contribution of climate risk perception in explaining the variance in Environmentalism (utilization 76%, (ΔR2 = .76); preservation 77%, (ΔR2 = .77). In another step, response efficacy was found a significant predictor of Utilization/Preservation dimensions of Environmentalism (β = -.08, t = -2.16, P<.01; β = -.09, t = -2.70, P<.01) respectively. The contribution of response efficacy in explaining the variance in Utilization/Preservation Environmentalism was 72% (ΔR2 = .72) and 71% (ΔR2 = .71) respectively. The study suggests that improving basic education, climate literacy, and public understanding of the local dimensions of climate change are vital to public engagement and support for climate action.