Sense of Community and Environmental Commitment. The Power of Environmental Organisations

An empirical Study

Bachelor Thesis , 2016 , 50 Pages , Grade: 1,3

Psychology - Miscellaneous

The challenges of tackling the menacing impacts of the advancing destruction of the natural environment receives increasing attention from researchers, indicating that it is important to discover factors that motivate people to foster pro-environmental behaviour in their daily life.

This study examined community characteristics to provide insight why people commit themselves to community organisations focusing on environmental protection. Employees and volunteers of natural conservation organisations in Germany completed a survey containing instruments measuring organisational Sense of Community (COSOC), Pychological Empowerment (PE) and Community Participation (CP). Results indicated that COSOC predicted participatory behaviour of the organisation members, mediated by PE and that these community strengths are interrelated.

The examination of potential effects of demographics found age, education, type of employment and working hours per week influencing COSOC. Regression analysis indicated gender, size of the place of residence and working hours per week effecting CP. Methodological limitations and further implications are discussed.

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• 1. Introduction
• 1.1 Factors influencing environmental behaviour
• 1.2 Sense of Community, Empowerment and Participation
• 1.3 Interrogation and Hypotheses
• 1.3.1 COSOC - Effects of demographic characteristics
• 1.3.2 Participation - Effects of demographic characteristics
• 2. Methods and Procedure
• 2.1. Participants
• 2.2. Instruments
• 2.2.1 Community Organisation Sense of Community (COSOC)
• 2.2.2 Psychological Empowerment (PE)
• 2.2.3 Community Participation (CP)
• 2.3 Procedure
• 2.3.1 Distribution
• 2.3.2 Preliminary Analysis
• 2.3.3 Subscales
• 2.4 Results
• 2.4.1 Correlation between COSOC, PE and CP
• 2.4.2 Gender
• 2.4.3 Age
• 2.4.4 Size of place of residence
• 2.4.5 Size of organisation
• 2.4.6 Type of employment
• 2.4.7 Education level
• 2.4.8 Working hours per week
• 3. Discussion
• 3.1 Socio-demographic effects
• 3.1.1 Gender
• 3.1.2 Age
• 3.1.3 Size of place of residence
• 3.1.4 Size of organisation
• 3.1.5 Type of employment
• 3.1.6 Education level
• 3.1.7 Working hours per week
• 3.2 Limitations and Implications

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This study investigates the relationship between sense of community, psychological empowerment, and community participation within environmental organizations in Germany. It aims to understand how community characteristics influence the commitment of individuals to these organizations and their engagement in environmental protection. The study utilizes survey data from employees and volunteers of natural conservation organizations to explore these relationships.

• Sense of community (COSOC) as a predictor of community participation
• The mediating role of psychological empowerment (PE) in the relationship between COSOC and community participation
• The influence of demographic characteristics on COSOC and community participation
• The interrelationships between COSOC, PE, and community participation
• The implications of these findings for understanding and fostering pro-environmental behavior

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The introduction provides an overview of the importance of environmental protection and the need to understand factors influencing pro-environmental behavior. It highlights the gap between environmental awareness and actual behavior, discussing various factors that contribute to this gap. The chapter also introduces the concepts of sense of community, psychological empowerment, and community participation, setting the stage for the study's main research questions.

Chapter 2 delves into the methods and procedures used in the study. It describes the participants, instruments employed to measure key constructs, and the data collection process. The chapter outlines the detailed procedures followed for data analysis, including the examination of correlations between COSOC, PE, and CP, and the investigation of demographic factors influencing these variables.

Chapter 3 presents the discussion of the findings, focusing on the impact of socio-demographic factors on COSOC and community participation. It explores the findings related to gender, age, size of place of residence, size of organization, type of employment, education level, and working hours per week. The chapter also identifies limitations of the study and discusses potential implications of the findings for future research and practice.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This study focuses on the key concepts of sense of community, psychological empowerment, and community participation within environmental organizations. It investigates the influence of these factors on individual engagement in environmental protection and examines the role of demographic characteristics in shaping these relationships. The study contributes to the understanding of factors promoting pro-environmental behavior and offers insights for fostering greater commitment to environmental conservation efforts.

• College: University of Hagen (Institut für Psychologie)
• Grade: 1,3
• Author: Uta Hobohm (Author)
• Publication Year: 2016
• Pages: 50
• Catalog Number: V351434
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668380349
• ISBN (Book): 9783668380356
• Language: English
• Tags: Sense of Community, conservation, psychological empowerment, community participation, environment protection, environmental commitment