چکیده:
رفتار شهروندان در قبال محیط زیست و ارزش های اخلاقی آنان در تعامل با طبیعت از جمله مسایلی است که در کیفیت زندگی شهری و زیست پذیری پایدار شهرها اهمیت دارد. در تحقیق حاضر با نمونه گیری طبقه بندی شده تصادفی، ساکنان شهر گرگان از نظر رفتارهای حامی محیط زیست و ارزش های اخلاقی مورد بررسی قرار گرفتند. ابزار جمع آوری اطلاعات پرسشنامه بود که روایی آن از طریق روایی صوری و پایایی با آزمون کرونباخ مورد تأئید قرار گرفت. اطلاعات جمع آوری شده با نرم افزار آماری SPSS18 تجزیه و تحلیل شدند. نتایج نشان داد که شاخص رفتارهای حامی محیط زیست در حد متوسط بود و از این نظر تفاوتی بین زنان و مردان وجود نداشت. با افزایش سن، رفتارهای حامی محیط زیست بیشتر می شد، اما سطح تحصیلات ارتباطی با آن نداشت. تحقیق حاضر نشان داد همبستگی معنی دار بین رفتارهای حامی محیط زیست با گرایش به ارزش های انسان محور و خدامحور وجود نداشت، اما با تقویت زیست بوم محوری، رفتارهای حامی محیط زیست کاهش می یافت. این نتایج تأئیدی بر شکاف بین ارزش های اخلاقی و رفتار می باشد که در آن، رفتارها ارتباطی با باورهای محیط زیستی ندارند. با توجه به نتایج، پیشنهاد می شود تسهیلات لازم به منظور کاهش هزینه رفتارهای حامی محیط زیست در اختیار شهروندان قرار داده شود.
IntroductionConcern about the threat to the environment by humans has become one of the most important questions of human conscience. In this regard, value and moral issues have a special place because individual and social values and norms shape human behaviors. The fact is that after accepting the right attitudes towards nature and establishing the right moral relationship with it, one can unconsciously love and respect nature. Environmental ethics is a branch of applied philosophy and biological ethics that deals with humans and nature. The Greek philosopher Aristotle also believed that citizenship and morality are related subjects. Morality is from the view of the individual. Citizenship is from the perspective of the group. According to him, a person's moral character is the same set of characteristics or virtues necessary to have a good citizen. Although some have shown that the environmental behavior of citizens has become more responsible than in the past, the question is whether citizens have the right morals and environmental behaviors. Also, what connection can there be between the two? Because until the present study, no study was found about environmental ethics and environmentally-friendly behaviors in urban areas of Iran. So, this study was conducted to answer the above questions in Gorgan city.MethodologyThe present study was conducted by a descriptive-survey research method. The study population included residents of Gorgan who were at least 18 years old. According to the last census of 2016, the population of Gorgan was 350216 people, at least 20% of whom were under 18 years old. The number of samples was obtained 246 people using Cochran's formula, which 300 people were selected for the study to increase accuracy. Also, a stratified random sampling method was used based on the division of regions and districts of this city to select the samples in Gorgan city. According to the Gorgan Municipality, this city is divided into three districts and each district is divided into two sub-districts. By randomly selecting the citizens' houses, 50 people (100 people in each area) and a total of 300 people were randomly selected from each of the three districts of Gorgan. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. Twenty statements were used that each of them expresses action or behavior towards the environment to measure pro-environmental behaviors. Also, 19 statements were used to measure the attitude towards environmental ethics. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed through face validity by obtaining the opinion of the faculty members of the Department of Environment, the Department of Agricultural Extension, and Education of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Cronbach's test was applied in a pilot study to evaluate the reliability. The alpha value for the index of environmental behaviors was 0.724, and the environmental ethics scale was 0.731. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS18 software. Descriptive statistics, including mean, percentage, frequency, and inferential correlation coefficient statistics, including Mann-Whitney and Friedman tests, were employed.Results and DiscussionThe present study showed that the attitude of Gorgan residents towards the theocentric dimension of environmental ethics was the strongest and the anthropocentric dimension was the weakest. In this respect, the ecocentric dimension was in the middle position. The results showed that the attitude towards anthropocentric beliefs has decreased with increasing the level of education. Also, theocentric and ecocentric attitudes had a positive mutual effect on each other. In general, pro-environmental behaviors could be assessed at an acceptable level. Although this is not a great level, it is not a bad situation. Also, men and women were not different in terms of pro-environmental behaviors. With increasing age, the pro-environmental behaviors have improved. Besides, the level of education was not significantly related to their environmentally-friendly behaviors. The results showed that anthropocentric and theocentric dimensions did not significantly correlate with the index of pro-environmental behaviors, but this relationship was negative and significant with the attitudes towards the ecocentric dimension. In other words, pro-environmental behaviors have diminished as ecological beliefs have increased. Although pro-environmental behaviors were independent of theocentric attitudes, the significant correlation between ecocentric attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors can reinforce the possibility that concentric attitudes influence pro-environmental behaviors by strengthening ecocentric behaviors. Surprisingly, the negative and significant relationship between ecocentric attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors seems unexpected, as it was expected that people with stronger ecocentric beliefs would have more pro-environmental behaviors. It seems that something has happened here, which is called the "value-behavior" gap. ConclusionGiven the gap between environmental values and behavior, changing environmental attitudes and beliefs cannot guarantee alone to enhance pro-environmental behaviors. For this purpose, situational variables are significant. Therefore, it is essential to provide the necessary conditions in a way that citizens can act following their environmental values and beliefs. For example, providing garbage bins in public places. Also, the negative relationship between the level of education and the attitudes towards anthropocentric beliefs can be considered a re-emphasis on the need to provide appropriate programs to improve citizens' knowledge of the environment and avoid anthropocentric beliefs. Improving citizens' environmental knowledge and awareness can be done by using mass media such as radio and television and magazines, as well as holding environmental events. Forming environmental groups and using the cooperation and participation of citizens in cleaning the environment can also make them interested in increasing knowledge about the environment.