The Effects of Valued-cultural Orientations and Environmental Concern on Soil Conservation Behavior of Farmers: Case of villages in Miandoab County

The main purpose of present study was to investigate the effects of valued-cultural orientations (fatalistic, individualistic, egalitarian, and hierarchical) and environmental concern on farmers' soil conservation behavior. Present study is an applied research which was carried out though a cross-sectional survey. The statistical population under the study was the villages of Miandoab County (N= 22750) from which 378 farmers were selected as a sample using Krejcie and Morgan sampling table. A multi-stage stratified random sampling method was employed in order to select the samples. Research tool was a questionnaire which its validity confirmed by a panel of academic experts. A pilot test and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were used to examine the reliability of the questionnaire (0.73≤α≤0.91). The results revealed that environmental concern towards soil conservation had significant positive effect on soil conservation behavior of farmers. Moreover, egalitarian and hierarchical value orientations towards soil conservation had also significant and positive effects on environmental concern towards soil conservation. However, individualistic and fatalistic value orientations towards soil conservation had significant and negative effects on environmental concern towards soil conservation. The results revealed that independent variables within the framework could account for 42.5 % of variance change in dependent variable (soil conservation behavior).