Investigating the Effect of Awareness on Recycling Behavior with an Emphasis on the Role of News Sources (Case Study: Women of Gorgan)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate professor of sociology, Department of sociology and communication, Faculty of Humanity and social Sciences, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.

2 PhD student in Economic Sociology and Development, Department of sociology of development, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran

10.22080/jsn.2024.5017

Abstract

Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
 In our country, despite the fact that waste is mentioned as dirty gold, unfortunately, the waste recycling industry has not opened its place as it should, and in this regard, the environment is endangered due to the accumulation of waste and the no interest in the benefits of recycling. Therefore, due to the structural conditions prevailing in Iranian society, the expansion of urbanization and changes as the results of consumerism have changed the ways and lifestyles of many actors, which is tangible, and its consequences are clearly visible in the individual and social life of actors, especially in the behavior of individuals. Therefore, the role of human factors in creating environmental pollution and recognizing human behaviors is a prerequisite for any planning and management to protect the environment. One of the tools that change the behavior of people in the community is comprehensive and effective education. Accordingly, if we expect correct recycling behavior and culture in society, we must first raise the awareness of each individual in society in various ways, especially through written and audio-visual media. Awareness-raising can be explained in terms of the return of materials to the cycle, job creation, and reduction of environmental and human risks. Since women are future makers and future mothers, they can be useful and informative tools in the field of household waste recycling in the future by accepting various responsibilities in the country; therefore, knowing their awareness and behavior in providing educational and policy solutions in this area is very important. Based on this, the researchers decided to answer the basic question: What is the position of awareness in the recycling behavior of women in Gorgan by controlling news sources, compared to the recycling of household waste?

2.  Research Methodology
 The research method of the present study was descriptive-correlational, and for data collection, a survey method was used with the help of a questionnaire tool. The statistical population of the study included all women in Gorgan in 1394, which, according to the population estimate for this year, was over 180,000 people. In order to determine the sample size, Cochran's logical formula was used with a probability accuracy of 5%. Based on calculations, the sample size was 373 people. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed and analyzed to increase the validity of the findings. Due to the extent of the study area and research facilities, the method of multi-stage cluster sampling with systematic random sampling was used. To confirm the validity of the questionnaire, the corrective opinions of experts in the fields of environment, psychology, and sociology were taken into consideration. The values ​​for each of the main concepts of research are recycling behavior (0.748), awareness (0.787), and sources of news (0.742), respectively.

3.  Research Findings
The results of descriptive findings show that the highest frequency of respondents was in the age group of 25 to 34 years, of which 83.9% were married. Also, about half of the respondents declared their level of education as post-diploma and bachelor's degrees. In addition, 47.7% declared their social class as average. Finally, the average monthly income of the respondents is 2004661 thousand Tomans on average. The average recycling behavior of the respondents was 3.353 out of 5; this number indicates that women's recycling behavior is above the hypothetical average (3) and at a high and desirable level. Therefore, the relationship between recycling awareness and recycling behavior has been confirmed. In addition, the relationship between recycled awareness and recycling behavior with the control of the twelve variables of news sources has also been confirmed. This means that news sources affect respondents’ awareness of recycling, which ultimately leads to respondents’ recycling behavior. There is a positive and significant relationship between independent demographic variables such as age and recycling behavior. However, there is a significant inverse relationship between income and recycling behavior.

4.  Conclusion
 A comparison of the mean score of knowledge showed that the average score of this index was 3.35 on average, which in comparison with the results of the research of Iti Ravi Wang (2012) and Judge and Chief (2019), can be expressed that in general, there is a high alignment between results of the present research and the mentioned studies. This study reveals that there is almost no activity or profession that is not dependent on human understanding and thought; on the other hand, many environmental problems stem from a lack of awareness about humans and the environment. In the analysis of findings, a significant relationship has been observed between the two variables of recycling awareness and recycling behavior. Therefore, the results of the present paper are consistent with the findings of Schwarza et al. (2020), Solis and Silvira (2020), Salehi et al. (2015), Karimian and Miboudi (2019), and Zare (2020). The findings also showed the positive effect of news sources on increasing women's awareness of household waste recycling. Available searches indicate that similar studies have not been performed to compare. Another finding of the study is the existence of a positive and significant relationship between age and recycling behaviors and an inverse and at the same time significant relationship between income and recycling behaviors of respondents, which is consistent with the results of Salehi et al. (2015) and Zare (2020). In addition, the results of the regression test indicate the effect of variables, such as age, knowledge, income, education, and sources of information, on the recycling behaviors of respondents. The results of the structural equation also confirm the above results.

Funding
 This article is an excerpt from a research project approved by Golestan University entitled "Assessing Women's Attitudes Towards Household Waste Recycling" in 2015.

Authors’ Contribution
 The authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.

Conflict of Interest
 The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the persons for scientific consulting in this paper.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Journal of Society and the Environment
Volume 1, Issue 2
December 2024
Pages 1-18

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