Characterization of environmental attitudes of middle school youth in Panama

Abstract

There is a dearth of available research about environmental attitudes and beliefs of human beings, especially among youth (Manoli, Johnson & Dunlap, 2007). The objective of this study was to characterize environmental attitudes in young adolescents in Panama, framed by the shift from the dominant social paradigm (DSP) towards a new ecological paradigm (NEP), and focused on three dimensions: the rights of nature; a sense of urgency that nature is in eco-crisis; and human exceptionalism. The NEP scale for children, previously developed and validated, was used. The study sample consisted of middle school students in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade (n = 99) from six schools in Panama that were part of an environmental education program. The students obtained high scores regarding rights of nature, but low scores on attitudes of human exceptionalism. No significant differences were found in the averages of the NEP between participants who study in the province of Chiriquí and participants who study in the province of Panama or Panama Oeste. There were also no significant differences between boys and girls in the NEP scores. Weak positive correlations of age and grade were observed with the NEP scores, but they were not statistically significant. This study serves as a starting point to understand the attitudes of young people about the three NEP dimensions. In the future, the surveyed population could be expanded with a larger probability sample. Also, the NEP could be applied as a pre- and post-measurement to evaluate the impact of environmental education programs.