From consciousness to behavior: individual, social, and environmental responsibility among Slovenian youth

Abstract

Individualization trends encouraging young people to focus on their achievements seem to contradict the need for socially and environmentally sustainable behavior, and this requires additional empirical testing. The purpose of this paper is to present and provide basic testing of an original model of responsible behavior. The model is inspired by the theory of planned behavior distinguishing between consciousness, intentions, and behavior. The presented model applies these to an individual as well as to social and environmental responsibility while taking into account the social, technological, and natural environments. The research is based on the presumption that it is crucial to connect the individual dimension of responsibility with the environmental and social dimensions to achieve environmental and social sustainability at the micro-level. Data for the preliminary testing of the model was collected from an online social survey among Slovenian youth and analyzed through partial correlations and path analysis. The results show that individual responsibility is strongly connected to social and environmental responsibilities, but only in terms of behavior, and not values and intentions. Responsibility is also strongly connected to the social and technological environment, especially to the ways how young people are using digital technology.