Exploring the Psychosocial Antecedents of Sustainable Behaviors through the Lens of the Positive Youth Development Approach: A Pioneer Study

The current study explored, in a sample of 219 young Italian adults (105 M; 114 F; mean age = 22.10 years; SD = 2.69; age range = 18–29), the contribution of the five psychosocial skills (Five Cs) identified by the Positive Youth Development approach (competence, confidence, character, connection, a...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Marco Giancola, Maria Chiara Pino, Simonetta D’Amico
Format: article
Langue:EN
Publié: MDPI AG 2021
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:https://doaj.org/article/0fa3304694f943858f961e7dc7f9e99b
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
Description
Résumé:The current study explored, in a sample of 219 young Italian adults (105 M; 114 F; mean age = 22.10 years; SD = 2.69; age range = 18–29), the contribution of the five psychosocial skills (Five Cs) identified by the Positive Youth Development approach (competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring) to sustainable behaviors, including pro-ecological, frugal, altruistic. and equitable actions. We performed four regression analyses, in which the Five Cs were the independent variables and pro-ecological, frugal, altruistic, and equitable behaviors were the dependent ones. Results reveal that character predicted pro-ecological and frugal behaviors, whereas competence was a significant antecedent of altruism. In addition, we found that caring predicted pro-ecological and altruistic actions while connection was a positive predictor of equity. These findings suggest that psychosocial resources could be crucial for sustainability, opening new possibilities for research and intervention in order to promote sustainable practices that could guarantee the well-being of the present and forthcoming generations. Limits and future research directions are also discussed.