Okumah, M orcid.org/0000-0002-2937-8467, Yeboah, AS, Nkiaka, E orcid.org/0000-0001-7362-9430 et al. (1 more author) (2019) What Determines Behaviours Towards Water Resources Management in a Rural Context? Results of a Quantitative Study. Resources, 8 (2). 109. ISSN 2079-9276
Abstract
Recent environmental policies introduced to safeguard the quality of water resources have focussed on encouraging pro-environmental behaviours (PEB). This has resulted in a considerable volume of research output that seeks to investigate the determinants of PEB in the context of water resources management. However, there is a paucity of literature exploring the topic within the developing country context, though evidence suggests that these regions record the highest rates of water resource pollution. This limits our understanding of the determinants of PEB and thus constrains our ability to develop and implement effective policies to encourage uptake of PEB. Following this, we apply the Theory of Planned Behaviour to explore the determinants of PEB, using structural equation modelling to analyse survey data from rural Ghana. The evidence supports the hypothesis that attitudes and perceived behavioural control affects intentions, and this translates into pro-environmental behaviour. Results further indicate that attitude and perceived behavioural control have a strong explanatory power in people’s intentions, and intentions are influential drivers of pro-environmental behaviour. An explicit recognition of the role of situational factors could offer a profound understanding of the determinants of behaviours that promote water resources management and support the development and implementation of policies aimed at safeguarding the quality of water resources.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | water resources management; river; pro-environmental behaviour; environmental attitudes; structural equation modelling; Ghana |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Aug 2019 13:36 |
Last Modified: | 21 Aug 2019 13:36 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/resources8020109 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:149910 |