ABSTRACT

Introduction: Environmental protection is an essential issue for sustainable development, and its execution power mainly comes from individual environmental protection behavior. This study investigates the resident environmental protection behaviors and influencing factors in the ecologically fragile areas of western China based on a total of 1062 households by adopting the participatory assessment method. Then, this study used the structural equation model to empirically analyze the impact of social capital, environmental risk perception, and environmental awareness on residents’ environmental protection behavior.Outcomes: The results showed that environmental awareness is the basis for practicing environmental protection behavior, consistent with the existing research; social capital has a significant impact on residents’ environmental protection behavior, with an impact coefficient of 0.347. Hence, environmental risk perception has an indirect influence on environmental protection behavior through environmental awareness. Besides, compared with urban residents, rural residents’ environmental awareness and social capital have a stronger role in environmental protection behavior.Conclusions: The study clarified the influence path of residents’ environmental protection behavior, thus effectively providing a decision-making basis for the government to guide residents in the environmental governance system.

摘要

简介：环境保护是可持续发展的本质问题，其执行力主要来自于个人的环保行为。本研究采用参与式评估方法，以1062户家庭为样本，对西部生态脆弱区居民环境保护行为及影响因素进行调查。然后，本研究利用结构方程模型实证分析了社会资本、环境风险感知、环境意识对居民环保行为的影响。结果：结果表明，环保意识是践行环保行为的基础，与现有研究一致；社会资本对居民环保行为有显着影响，影响系数为0.347。因此，环境风险感知通过环境意识对环境保护行为产生间接影响。此外，与城市居民相比，农村居民的环境意识和社会资本在环境保护行为中的作用更强。结论：该研究明确了居民环保行为的影响路径，从而有效地为政府在环境治理体系中引导居民提供了决策依据。