AbstractThe study aimed to analyse the causal effects of place attachment (PA) on farmers' groundwater (GW) sustainability behaviour using the developed model of cultural environmental bias (CEB). The analysis unit in this descriptive and causal study was the hydrological areas of GW resources studies and Agricultural GW Users (AGWU) of agricultural wells. Causal analysis showed that place identity structure (PI) is a strong determinant of GW sustainability behaviour and has the most direct and indirect causal effect on farmers' behaviour. The fitted model of the study is a combined model that explains 47% of the variance changes in GW sustainability behaviour. This study showed that in cultural and social contexts, beliefs and norms of farmers are vital in the decisions of the agriculture sector. Farmers' place attachment affects environmental cultural beliefs and activities and their public participation for the purpose of environmental‐groundwater sustainability.
Purpose Many environmental problems are due to the unfavorable environmental intentions and cultural–behavioral weaknesses in the relationship between man and nature. This study aims to adopt an environmental psychological perspective to green intention (GI) and green behavior (GB) of agricultural students; to this end, protection motivation theory (PMT) was used as the core of the theoretical base.
Design/methodology/approach This research method was based on descriptive–correlational and causal–relational analyses. The statistical population included agricultural students of Iranian universities with green university standards (N = 5,582). Out of the total population, 384 students were selected as the study sample. The research instrument was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed using a panel of experts and the average variance extracted. Also, its reliability was verified by Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0.61 ≤ α ≤ 0.92), principal component analysis and composite reliability index.
Findings The results of structural equation modeling showed that the obtained model is able to explain 36.3% and 5.56% of GB and GI variance changes, respectively. In addition, the results revealed that GI has the greatest effect on GB (β = 0.362).
Research limitations/implications It is worth to mention that according to the results, most of the independent variables, besides the direct effects they have on students' GB, also indirectly affect this variable. This effect was performed through the key variable – GI. In other words, it can be concluded that the GI variable successfully mediates the effects of variables such as response efficacy (RE), self-efficacy (SE) and environmental norms (EN). Therefore, it is suggested that in the behavioral changes interventions in GB of agricultural studies, it should be considered that the presence or absence of GI can affect the actual behavior of individuals. In other words, it is recommended that to accelerate actual behavioral changes, behavioral interventionists should first focus on encouraging people's GI.
Practical implications It can be said that the conclusion of this research can provide a basis for the successful encouragement of students to GB. First, GI, as a key element, can mediate the impacts of variables such as RE, SE and EN on students' GB. Second, PS only directly affects students' GB. Third, RE has no significant impact on GB, but its effect on GI is significant. Fourth, RC affects students' GI directly, without mediation. Fifth, SE and EN constructs affect students both directly and indirectly GB of students through GI. Knowing the location of the effect of these variables on each other and the role they have in explaining GI and GB of agricultural students presented some suggestions that can prepare the ground for further development of GB. Hence, managers, students, agricultural educators and other users can use these results to accelerate GB changes.
Originality/value The conclusion of this research might provide a basis for the successful encouragement of students to GB. In interventions to change GB, it would be essential to pay enough attention to the fact that the presence or absence of GI might affect the actual behavior. It is suggested that behavioral interventionists focus on encouraging people's GI so as to be able to accelerate the actual behavioral changes.
AbstractThis study aimed to analyse the mediating role of farmers' time perspective in water resources exploitation behaviour/s (WREB). The study was descriptive correlational and causal relational and was carried out using a survey. The statistical population consisted of farmers in the eastern area of Lake Urmia (N = 232 295), of whom 386 persons were selected using a stratified random sampling method. The instrument was a questionnaire, whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. Its reliability was also verified by performing the Cronbach's alpha test (0.60 ≥ α ≥ 0.94). The causal framework is presented based on the findings. In such a condition, self‐efficacy, psychological needs and time perspective had the highest total causal effect on farmers' WREB. Moreover, the results confirmed the mediating role of time perspective (as a personal variable) and time norms (as a social variable) in WREB. Therefore, the proper conduct of farmers' WREB needs to provide a futuristic perspective, which is also confirmed by social norms.
AbstractThis study aimed to perform an environmental‐psychological analysis of farmers' resilience behaviours towards water scarcity crisis. The study was descriptive‐correlational and causal‐relational and was carried out as a survey. The statistical population was composed of farmers in Aji‐Chay Basin in the eastern part of Lake Urmia (N = 417000), of whom 384 people were selected using stratified random sampling method. The instrument was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. Its reliability was, also, verified using a Cronbach's alpha test and a pilot study (0.60 ≤ α ≤ 0.90). The findings presented the causal framework of farmers' resilience behaviour. The results of the causal analysis further indicated that the three variables of 'place attachment', 'environmental attitudes' and 'environmental beliefs' had the greatest impact on farmers' resilience behaviour towards water scarcity. The paper is concluded with some applied recommendations based on the findings.
AbstractThis study aims to investigate farmers' pro‐environmental behaviour (FPB) under drought conditions. The epistemological perspective of the study was centred on human ecology and Norm Activation Theory (NAT). The study was designed as descriptive‐correlational research of causal relationships and was conducted using the survey method. The statistical population includes farmers who live around Lake Hamoun on the Iran‐Afghan border in the Sistan region. With NAT serving as the basis, the causal chain model of the impact of awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility, subjective norms and personal norms on FPB was presented and tested. The proposed causal model is able to explain 34% of changes in FPB. The results of this study highlight the need for special attention to the fundamental changes that must be made in the environmental views of farmers as the most important stakeholders of water resources under drought conditions.
This study aimed to analyze the causes and consequences of agricultural water conflicts among agricultural water beneficiaries in the irrigation network of Doroodzan dam, Iran. This research applied mixed-method and descriptive analysis, which was done in two qualitative and quantitative phases. The results showed that the causes of water conflicts can be divided into two groups of controllable and uncontrollable factors. The findings revealed that the main causes of agricultural water conflict in the studied area were &lsquo ; water scarcity&rsquo ; &lsquo ; drought&rsquo ; &lsquo ; physical structure of the Doroodzan dam irrigation network&rsquo ; and &lsquo ; mismatched size of the irrigation network with Doroodzan dam&rsquo ; s water capacity&rsquo ; as uncontrollable factors. Furthermore, &lsquo ; weakness of governmental water management&rsquo ; &lsquo ; lake for local management of water resources by farmers&rsquo ; &lsquo ; government&rsquo ; s reluctance about farmers&rsquo ; participation&rsquo ; and &lsquo ; farmers&rsquo ; reluctance to participate in water management&rsquo ; were identified as controllable factors. In this study, most of the conditions identified as consequences of water conflicts had &lsquo ; socio-economic&rsquo ; and &lsquo ; agro-environmental&rsquo ; aspects. Finally, based on the findings, a model was designed to determine the causes and consequences of agricultural water conflict. To break the causes and consequences cycle of water conflicts in Iran&rsquo ; s agriculture, the most important solution is shifting from governmentality to governance in water resources management.
AbstractThis study has been done with the aim of developing and validating a perceptual scale for small‐scale farmers in arid regions and also redirecting interventions towards sustainability; it was conducted in the two qualitative and quantitative phases. In the scale validation process, principal component analysis was employed to identify the latent dimensions of farmers' perceptions of climate change. The results showed that the scale of farmers' perceptions of climate change has five latent dimensions including "awareness and knowledge," "ascription of responsibility," "forgetfulness and optimism about the future," "perceived risk," and "human agency." The results of model validation revealed that all fitness indices are at a suitable level, and this scale might be used by climate change social interventions for sustaining agricultural activities, in water‐scarce areas. Given that forgetfulness and optimism are due to the weakness of farmers' episodic memory, it was recommended that climate change social interventions be focused on improving episodic memory using episodic future thinking.
