ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND GREEN BEHAVIOUR AMONG MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/JTHEM.1144010Keywords:
Environmental Sustainability, Higher Education Institutions, Pro-Environmental Behaviour, Sustainability Management, Multiple RegressionAbstract
Environmental awareness and sustainability behaviour play an important role in addressing environmental challenges and promoting long-term environmental sustainability. Within higher education, university students play a critical role in shaping future sustainability practices and long-term environmental outcomes. Despite increasing attention to sustainability, limited empirical studies have examined thecombined effects of environmental knowledge, awareness, and attitudes on green behaviour among Malaysian university students. This study examines the level of environmental knowledge, awareness, and attitudes and analyse their influence on green behaviour. This study employed a quantitative method involving 385 students from selected Malaysian Public Universities listed in the UI Green Metric World University Rankings. The questionnaire measured environmental knowledge, environmental awareness, green behaviour and sustainable consumption using a five-point Likert scale. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics, including descriptive analysis, reliability testing, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. The results indicate high levels of environmental knowledge, attitude and awareness among students (mean range = 4.25–4.32), while Pearson correlation analysis reveals a strong positive relationship between environmental awareness and green behaviour (r = 0.785, p < 0.001). Multiple regression results show that environmental knowledge (β = 0.203, p < 0.001), environmental attitude (β = 0.237, p < 0.001) and environmental awareness (β = 0.446, p < 0.001) significantly predict green behaviour, with environmental awareness emerging as the strongest determinant. This indicates that environmental awareness plays a more significant role than knowledge in influencing sustainable behaviour. These findings imply that strengthening environmental awareness initiatives, sustainability education and green campus policies can significantly enhance environmentally responsible practices among students. This study contributes by identifying environmental awareness as the strongest determinant of green behaviour in higher education contexts. Practically, the findings inform the design of more effective sustainability initiatives by emphasising awareness-driven strategies and institutional support to promote consistent pro-environmental behaviour.
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