Affecting Factor on Villager's Pro-environmental Behavior in Khodabandeh County Based on Theory of Planned Behavior

Today, environmental issues have created a serious threat to environmental sustainability of rural communities. In this respect, many experts believe that human behaviors are the most important cause of environmental problems that it is necessary to be examined carefully. Regarding the importance of the issue, the main objective of this descriptive- correlation research was to study of factors affecting villagers’ pro-environmental behavior based on theory of planned behavior. The statistical population of the research consisted of all villagers’ heads of households in Sojasroud district of Khodabandeh County in Zanjan Province (N= 2354). According to the Bartlett et al. (2001) Table, 259 of them were selected by a two-stage sampling method. Data collected using standard questionnaire. Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. Construct validity and reliability of the research instrument were confirmed through examining of model fit in three levels of measurement model, structural model and total model. The descriptive results showed that the most of villagers’ pro-environmental behavior were at medium (58.5 percent) and low (29.3 percent) levels. Furthermore, the results indicated that there was a positive and significant relationship between attitude, social norms and perceived behavioral control with intention to perform pro-environmental behavior. In addition to this, there was a positive and significant relationship between intention to perform pro-environmental behavior and social norms with villagers’ pro-environmental behavior. According to the results, it is suggested that villagers’ knowledge and awareness on methods and techniques of pro-environmental activities has been increased through the different extension mechanisms particularly holding the extension-education courses, and on the other hand, supportive policies to protect the environment to be made and implemented with emphasis on villagers participation.