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Environmental worldview and concern of college students in the Philippines

Article  in  International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education · January 2008

DOI: 10.1108/14676370810842175

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 Environmental
Environmental worldview worldview and
and concern of college students concern
in the Philippines
39
Glenn L. Sia Su
Department of Biology, College of Science, De La Salle University, Received 1 February 2007
Manila, Philippines Revised 7 March 2007
Accepted 13 April 2007

Abstract
Purpose – Most people profess to care for the environment, but there is considerable diversity on
what people generally care for and the reasons for their concern. This study aims to understand college
students’ worldviews, attitudes, and perceptions and determine the factors affecting their
environmental concern. The study aims to focus on college students, as they will be tomorrow’s
leaders and stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach – Copies of a self-administered questionnaire were distributed to
selected public and private universities in the Philippines. The binomial logistic regression analysis
determined the factors predicting the probability of the students’ environmental concern.
Findings – Gender and environmental attitudes affect students’ environmental concern ( p , 0.05).
Most of the students’ expressed strong environmentally supportive views and beliefs.
Originality/value – The derived model confirmed that gender and environmental attitudes are
significant factors to students’ environmental concern.
Keywords Environmental management, Attitudes, Students, Philippines
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Many environmental issues affect the Philippine environment. These issues arose from
people’s complacency and indifference toward the environment. People often look at
the environment as a “commons” that is open to be overused and degraded by
everyone. Individuals continue to exploit the environment for immediate individual
gain, ignoring the long-term effects of their actions. Studies have shown that there are
apparent causes of the underlying actual use and attitudes of people, particularly
toward the environment (Dove, 1993; Woelcke, 2002). People engage in activities that
are damaging to the environment to maximize immediate economic gains.
Given these conditions, raising the environmental awareness of the global citizenry
to achieve sustainability has been the objective of the United Nations World Conference
on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. These efforts have helped raise the
awareness of the citizenry, particularly among students. As of 2003-2004, it is
estimated that 2,420,856 students are enrolled in 1,787 public and private universities
and colleges in the Philippines (Commission on Higher Education, 2004). International Journal of Sustainability
in Higher Education
Vol. 9 No. 1, 2008
The author wishes to extend his grateful appreciation to the public and private universities in the pp. 39-47
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Philippines that are included in the study, the teachers and students who participated in the 1467-6370
study and all others who have supported this study in one way or another. DOI 10.1108/14676370810842175
IJSHE These students together with the 10, 565,504 students in all levels of the Philippine
9,1 Educational System benefit from these continued efforts.
Today’s students will likely be tomorrow’s citizens, leaders, and stakeholders. Most
students profess to care for the environment, but there is considerable diversity on
what they care for and the reasons for their environmental concerns. Ridener (1997)
indicated that many are aware but do not necessarily use their “literacy” to help by
40 assessing and acting on these environmental issues. Clearly, it is important for
students to develop, not only “literacy,” but also an understanding of sustainability
and human-environment relations. The success of resolving the issues and concerns
governing the environment depends on how well students understand and view the
environment and its complex processes. Students need not only be aware but more so,
they need to comprehend their environment so that, in the future, they can become
better stewards. Their worldviews, attitudes, and perceptions toward the environment
could significantly affect our sustainability in the future.
This study aims to determine and understand the students’ environmental
worldviews: what they can and must do for the environment; what they should not do;
and what actually governs their environmental concern. There is a need to understand
how students perceive the environment, because this explains how they relate with it.
Studies investigating the college students’ environmental worldviews, attitudes,
and perceptions and the factors affecting their environmental concern in the
Philippines are limited. This study provides benchmark information on the
environmental understanding of college students in the Philippines. The findings
from this study may be useful to decision makers and academicians, particularly in
developing policies and programs that integrate, improve, and contextualize
environmental education in general university education.

Methodology
The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands situated in the Southeast Asian
region. The Philippine Sea on the east, the South China Sea on the west, and the Celebes
Sea on the south border the Philippine islands. The archipelago is divided into three
main islands: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (Figure 1).
A survey instrument, utilizing structured and open-ended questions, was developed.
The use of the structured and combined open-ended questions helps the investigator
explore other pertinent issues and new insights from the students pertaining to the
problem studied. The self-administered questionnaire is used to preserve anonymity and
ease in convincing students to answer the questions. It is likewise economical and it easily
covers a wider target population of students. The student answers cannot be validated and
the limited questions in the survey instrument are the identified limitations.
The questionnaire was pretested prior to its distribution to 400 college students in
four selected universities (public and private) in the Philippines. A total of 160 students
from public universities and 240 students from private universities were randomly
selected based on the drawn pieces of paper from a thoroughly mixed set of rolled
identical ones with the university type written on them. The questionnaire was divided
into three sections. The first section inquired personal information of the students (age,
gender, religion, birthplace, and number of years in school). The second section asked
questions on how the students think the environment works; what they think their
roles are and their relation with the environment; and what they believe are right and
 N Environmental
worldview and
concern

Philippines 41

Figure 1.
The study area,
Philippines
Note: Reproduced from the only available original

wrong environmental behaviors. The third section asked questions on the students’
outlooks, attitudes, and perceptions toward the environment and their involvement in
environmental efforts and different environmental issues faced by the Filipino
populace, the Philippine Government, and the economic sector. The questionnaires
were given randomly to teachers handling general education subjects in their
respective universities. The teachers distributed the questionnaires, and the students
worked on these during their class period from March to May 2006.
The binomial logistic regression analysis was used to determine the probability of
the environmental concern among the students and the significant factors that affect
their environmental concern. The different factors affecting environmental concern
were collapsed to form dichotomized categories in performing the regression analysis.
The regression equation, Y ¼ a þ bX, followed a logistic distribution. The probability
was assessed between the dichotomous outcome of Y as either concern or indifference
to the environment and its factors, X (age, gender, years in school, type of school,
environmental attitudes, and involvement in environmental efforts). The factors (X)
were dichotomously categorized as the reference group and the other group. For age
and years in school, the groups’ dichotomous categorization was arbitrarily set based
on the distribution of data; for gender, on the sex of the students; for type of school, on
students studying in public or private universities; for environmental attitudes, on
students’ affirmation or negation on the importance of the environment; and for
environmental involvement, on students’ active participation or nonparticipation in
environmental efforts. In this case, dummy variables 1 and 2 were used to represent the
reference group and the other group, respectively. The likelihood ratio test P-value was
compared at each step to a likelihood ratio criterion. The selected variable was included
in the model. The criterion used a fixed preset a-level of significance, where a was set
at 0.05 for “enter” of variable and at 0.10 for “remove.” The factors were entered in the
model, and the forward stepwise regression procedure was used in building the model.
IJSHE The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test was done to determine if the built model
9,1 was a good fit. The log of the odds was estimated using the regression function that the
model developed. The significance of the estimated coefficients was evaluated using
the Wald test statistic. Results yielding a significant p-value were included in the
model, and those not significant were excluded.
All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social
42 Sciences (SPSS) software.

Results
Profile of the respondents
A total of 368 questionnaires were returned. Table I shows the profile of the students
surveyed. This consists of 150 male (40.8 percent) and 218 female (59.2 percent)
students. The mean age of the students was 18 years, with an age range of 16-28 years.
The mean number of years in school attended by the students was 13 years. Most of
the respondents (81.5 percent) were Roman Catholics. Also, 66.3 percent of the
respondents were from the province of Luzon, Philippines.

Environmental attitudes and outlooks on environmental problems and issues

The respondents’ perceptions on the level of concern by the Filipino public, the Philippine
Government, and the economic sector for the environment were gathered. Most of
the students believe that the Filipino public has the right to access (81.3 percent) and use
(79.6 percent) the environment. However, misuse of the environment results to damages
(57.6 percent). Students (67.9 percent) also believe that if the Filipino public recognizes the
rights of each individual, it would reduce the problems faced by the country.

Characteristics Frequency (n) Percent

Gender
Male 150 40.8
Female 218 59.2
Age (y)
,18 224 60.9
$18 144 39.1
Type of university
Public 147 39.9
Private 221 60.1
Religion
Roman Catholic 300 81.5
Protestant 38 10.3
Muslim 4 1.1
Christian 26 7.1
Place of birth
National Capital Region 108 29.3
Luzon 245 66.3
Visayas 10 2.7
Mindanao 5 1.4
Table I. Number of years in school
Profile of the respondents ,13 232 63.0
(n ¼ 368) $13 136 37.0
Students cited that the Filipino public (45.1 percent), the Philippine Government Environmental
(45.1 percent), and the economic sector (39.9 percent) considerably express concern to worldview and
the environment. Most of the students (72.6 percent) noted that the Filipino public, the
Philippine Government, and the economic sector still think of prioritizing the concern
protection of the environment even at the risk of curbing economic growth. Students
also expressed that achieving both a healthy environment and a prosperous economy
is possible. 43
Most of the students emphasized that they greatly worry about the environmental
problems faced by the country, particularly air pollution (79.9 percent), pollution of
surface and groundwater sources (72.8 percent), damage to the ozone layer
(72.8 percent), toxic waste disposal (71.7 percent), availability of drinking water
(68.5 percent), loss of natural habitats (66.3 percent), global warming (66.0 percent),
solid waste management (64.1 percent), ocean and beach pollution (59.9 percent), loss of
tropical rain forests (58.7 percent), radioactive contamination from nuclear facilities
(56.0 percent), and acid rain (54.6 percent). The students likewise identified that the top
three environmental issues confronting the country today are water pollution, air
pollution, and food safety.
Environmental worldviews of respondents
A number of students (29.1 percent) indicated that the environment is an important
resource that exists for all earth’s species, whereas some (21.2 percent) stated that the
environment has been deteriorated, polluted, and wasted (Table II). The top three
essential components of the environment according to the students were the forest
(98.9 percent), wildlife (94.3 percent), and water and agricultural resources
(92.1 percent). The students believed that the top three functions or services
provided by the environment were nutrient retention (84.8 percent), water transport
(84.8 percent), and tourism or recreation (79.3 percent).
The students believe that man’s main role in the environment is to be a good
steward who will take charge (60.3 percent) and protect (27.4 percent) the earth’s
important resources. According to them, the success of mankind in sustaining himself
depends on how people manage and maximize the environment’s resources. The
students (28.5 percent) likewise believe that environment resources are limited and that
the people are in charge of sustaining and maximizing these resources for all the
earth’s species. In addition, they (23.1 percent) also believe that the environment is a
provider that sustains life and our existence depends on the resources made available
by the environment.

Perceptions Frequency (n) Percent

Important resource 107 29.1

Provider 65 17.7
Interconnected 33 9.0
God’s gift 35 9.5
Home 17 4.6
Friend 4 1.1
Polluted and destroyed 78 21.2 Table II.
Fragile 7 1.9 Perceptions of students
No. perception 22 6.0 toward the environment
IJSHE Most of the respondents (69.6 percent) answered “yes” when asked whether or not they
9,1 favor the importance of the environment. Among those who favored the environment,
70.7 percent of the students signified that they were concerned with the environment.
Of these respondents, about 87.6 percent cited that they were involved and committed
in environmental efforts. Only 2.8 percent were not strongly committed and involved in
any effort that helps sustain the environment.
44
Environmental concern
Almost all respondents (96.5 percent) specified that they were concerned with their
environment. Most of them (85.3 percent) implied that their environmental concern
provided them a reason to be involved in a variety of environmental efforts. Most
respondents (87 percent) also believe that the Filipino public must participate or must
involve in programs that will help conserve and sustainably manage the environment.
The main reason for getting involved and participating in efforts that help protect the
environment is to sustainably improve the environment so that both the present
(85.3 percent) and the future (84.8 percent) generations may benefit from it.
The respondents perceived that the Filipino public should be actively involved in
efforts like reforestation (83.2 percent). Similarly, they (78.2 percent) also saw the need
to increase government involvement, particularly in enforcing the laws. Most
respondents (81.5 percent), however, have indicated their involvement in efforts to
improve the quality of the environment (Table III), particularly in using recyclable
items; voluntarily recycling newspaper, glass, aluminum, and other items
(81.3 percent); and segregating their wastes at the point source (70.1 percent).
According to the students (78.2 percent), the different environmental problems
facing the Filipino populace can be dealt with by prioritizing the environmental
problems that need immediate action, by raising the awareness of the people
(28.5 percent), by being responsible citizens (25.0 percent), and by participating and
cooperating in environmental efforts (11.4 percent).

Activities Rank Yes (percent) No (percent)

Use recyclable items 1 81.5 18.5

Voluntarily recycle newspaper, glass, aluminum, and
other items 2 81.3 18.7
Segregate waste at the point source 3 70.1 29.9
Substitute harmful products for
environment-friendly ones 4 62.2 37.8
Avoid buying or using harmful products 5 61.4 38.6
Cut down on household’s use of energy and conserve
electricity and energy resources 6 56.8 43.2
Do volunteer work for environmental conservation
Table III. groups 7 55.2 44.8
Activities performed by Cut down on household’s use of water 8 47.3 52.7
respondents in the recent Contribute money to an environmental conservation
years to improve the group 9 44.8 55.2
quality of the Cut down on use of car, participate in car pools, or
environment take public transportation 10 40.5 59.5
Factors affecting environmental concerns of respondents Environmental
Results of regression analyses showed that based on the Wald statistic, there was worldview and
sufficient evidence to indicate that, at 5 percent level of significance, the probability of
a student’s environmental concern is affected by his/her gender and environmental concern
attitudes ( p , 0.05; Table IV). Likewise, the results of the study did not negate the
possibility that age, number of years in school, type of school, and the student’s
involvement in environmental efforts may have significant correlations with their 45
environmental concern (P . 0.05).

Discussion
This study was cross-sectional and its scope was limited to college students enrolled in
public and private universities in the Philippines. The findings of the study showed
that Filipino college students recognize that the environment is an important resource
that provides the society with all its necessities. Each individual has the right to the
access and use of these resources from the environment, but is forewarned to
acknowledge each one’s rights so as not to affect or deteriorate the environment.
Students recognize that the different environmental issues confronting the country are
real and significant, and a great number of them think that the general Filipino public
should be concerned with the environment; this was strongly translated into their
environmentally supportive views and beliefs. Interestingly, the students perceived
that the success of mankind in sustaining himself depends on how people manage,
regard, and maximize the resources in the environment. Students view that the Filipino
public, the Philippine Government, and the economic sector should work together and
be good managers of the environment. In addition, they believe that protecting the
environment is more important than economic growth and that it is possible to have
both a healthy environment and a prosperous economy if the Filipino public learns to
prioritize the environment and be participative in environmental efforts and if the
Philippine Government manages to strictly enforce the laws concerning the
environment.
Results also showed that gender and environmental attitudes of college students
affects one’s environmental concern ( p , 0.05). Gender is an important factor affecting
one’s environmental concern as shown in the study by Stern et al. (1993). Such research
supports the results of this study by confirming that women showed higher
environmental concern than men. The students’ favorable attitudes toward the
environment are also an important elicitor in one’s environmental concern. These
favorable attitudes help change people’s emotional reactions (Zimbardo et al., 1977).
Crawford (1973) also presented that people having favorable attitudes bring about
positive opinions or beliefs. Furthermore, attitudes may encompass the
affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses of people including their concerns

Standard Wald Degrees of Odds Table IV.

Variables b-Coefficient error statistic freedom P ratio Factors affecting
environmental concern of
Constant 23.389 0.341 98.804 1 0.000 0.034 college students in four
Gender 21.636 0.671 5.935 1 0.015 0.195 selected universities in
Environmental attitude 1.355 0.589 5.296 1 0.021 3.875 the Philippines
IJSHE (Bohner and Wanke, 2002). Bohner and Wanke (2002) indicated that people who have
9,1 high concerns and positive attitudes toward an object often directly and automatically
influence one’s behavior.

Conclusion
Most of the students in the study had expressed strong environmentally supportive
46 views and beliefs. Students signified that the Filipino public needs to be aware of their
environment and they must use their awareness to work for the environment. Students
implied that the different problems affecting the Philippine environment can be dealt
with by prioritizing the environment, conducting continual measures in raising the
awareness of the people, being responsible citizens, and participating and cooperating
in existing and future environmental efforts. Students expressed that achieving both a
healthy environment and a prosperous economy is possible. It is their strong desire to
improve the environment. And factors of gender and favorable environmental
attitudes significantly elicit the high levels of expressed environmental concern of the
students and their general willingness to take actions in protecting the environment for
the present and future generations.

Future research directions

The complexity of issues arising from the human-environment linkages affecting the
Philippine environment is an increasing concern, particularly in achieving
sustainability. Considerable progress is required to facilitate our understanding on
how students’ literacy can help in shaping the Filipino populace be better stewards of
the environment in the future. To do this effectively, future researches must reflect the
major concerns involved in the complex human-environment nexus. Increased sample
size of future researches is necessary to aggregate findings from small-scale studies
and draw generalized conclusions that will provide better directions for policy
recommendations. There is, likewise, a need to develop longitudinal studies that will
anticipate what the students’ before and after perspectives on the Philippine
human-environment linkages will be, what the Philippine environment will be when
instituted policies become effective, and how these policies might change the
sustainability of the Philippine environment and the world. It is also important to
consider how students’ concern can bring about population change governing the
human-environment linkages and to investigate and define other possible factors that
may significantly elicit the relation of the students and the general public on the
environment and how these affect the sustainability of the resources used, long-term
environmental health, and the population’s well being.

References
Bohner, G. and Wanke, M. (2002), Attitudes and Attitude Change, Psychology Press, Hove,
pp. 3, 242.
Commission on Higher Education (2004), Higher Education Statistical Bulletin Academic Year
2003-2004, Philippines, available at: www.ched.gov.ph/statistics/index.html (accessed
March 2007).
Crawford, T.J. (1973), “Beliefs about birth control: a consistency theory analysis”, Representative
Research in Social Psychology, Vol. 4, pp. 54-65.
 Dove, M. (1993), “A revisionist view of tropical deforestation and development”, Environmental Environmental
Conservation, Vol. 20, p. 1.
Ridener, L.R. (1997), “University students’ attitude to the environment: an Australian/USA
worldview and
comparison and the effects of an educational program”, Australian Journal of concern
Environmental Education, Vol. 13, pp. 77-84.
Stern, P.C., Dietz, T. and Kalof, L. (1993), “Value orientation, gender and environmental concern”,
Environment & Behavior, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 322-48. 47
Woelcke, J. (2002), “Soil mining in Eastern Uganda”, Newsletter of the International Human
Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, April 1.
Zimbardo, P.G., Ebbesen, E.B. and Maslach, C. (1977), Influencing Attitudes and Changing
Behavior, 2nd ed., Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, p. 20.

Corresponding author
Glenn L. Sia Su can be contacted at: glss76@yahoo.com

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