Environmental Attitudes and Ecological Moral Reasoning in Romanian Students

Abstract

As a post-communist country, Romania goes through an environmental transition, trying to solve important ecological issues caused by the forced industrialisation from the communist era. Environmental concerns become more pressing as, people's environmental attitudes change very slowly while European ecological standards should already be met. One hundred thirty one psychology students were surveyed to assess their environmental attitudes and explore the relationship they have to ecological moral reasoning. Although most of the participants reported internally motivated pro-environmental attitudes, two thirds of them didn’t always choose the ecological alternative when confronted with the moral dilemmas. Even if environmental attitudes have an important role in predicting ecological behaviour, other factors are essential in ensuring the transition from attitudes to behaviour.