TITLE:
Awareness of Sustainable Development Goals and Its Relationship to Sustainable Behavior
AUTHORS:
Fatima Al-Shehri, Nawal Al-Ghamdi, Muhammad Aslam
KEYWORDS:
Sustainable Development, Sustainable Behavior, Middle School Students, Saudi Arabia
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.11 No.6,
June
7,
2024
ABSTRACT: The aim of the current study is to measure the awareness of middle school female students towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their orientation towards sustainable behaviors. The study also aims to find the relationship between awareness of SDGs and orientation towards sustainable behavior. The study followed a correlational descriptive methodology, utilizing a questionnaire developed by the researcher, which was administered to a sample of 375 middle school female students. The study results revealed that the level of awareness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among middle school female students achieved a moderate level with a weighted mean of 3.26 and a standard deviation of 0.74. Similarly, the orientation towards sustainable behavior among middle school female students was also rated as moderate, with a weighted mean of 3.37 and a standard deviation of 0.34. The dimension of Altruism attained the highest score among the dimensions and was the most prevalent among the study sample, achieving a high weighted mean of 3.56 with a standard deviation of 0.54. Following it, in the second position, was the dimension related to Fairness and Justice with a weighted mean of 3.40 and a standard deviation of 0.65, also achieving a moderate score. In the third position, the dimension of Environmentally Supportive Behaviors attained a moderate score with a weighted mean of 3.26 and a standard deviation of 0.50. Furthermore, the results indicated a statistically significant positive correlation at a significance level of 0.01 between the awareness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among middle school female students and the degree of orientation toward sustainable behavior. Based on these results, it is recommended to develop clear plans based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to encourage students to adopt sustainable behaviors. Additionally, it is suggested to utilize the scale used in designing counselling programs to promote sustainable behavior. Furthermore, further studies aiming to investigate the impact of sustainable behaviors on psychological well-being and satisfaction among school students are proposed.