Exploring the emotional pathways from cognition to action using the survey of environmental actions (SEA)

ABSTRACT Objectives This study examined a new cognitive model of willingness to take environmental action. We posited that one’s willingness to act is a feedback loop that starts with their values which lead to attitudes and then to one’s beliefs, which are then mediated by negative and learner emotions. Method Data were collected using the Survey of Environmental Actions (SEA), a new measure assessing the relationships among constructs. Results Results from a structural equation model (SEM) demonstrated good fit to the data, accounting for 44% of the total variance. Supplemental qualitative action plans also demonstrated that students who wrote an action plan, compared to those who did not, scored higher on their level of values, attitudes, beliefs, learner emotions, and willingness to take environmental action. Conclusion Implications suggest that a willingness to take environmental action is the result of a complex network of cognitive factors.