Examining the Factors Affecting Rural Women's Desire to Protect the Environment (Case study: Hassan Abad Village, Khorramabad)

Environmental issues are one of the most important concerns and preoccupations of human beings in the third millennium. It is very important to increase the desire of people at different social levels with the principles of environmental protection and to create voluntary motivations for environmental protection. Women have a significant contribution in environmental protection and natural resource management. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the increase in rural women's desire for environmental protection. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection. The statistical population of this research includes the women living in Hasanabad Village in Khorramabad County (N = 180). Based on Karjesi and Morgan Table, the sample size was estimated to be 118 people, which was increased to 123 people in order to increase the accuracy of the sample size. The random sampling method was also simple. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire; the form and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the faculty members of the agricultural extension and education department of the Khuzestan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. In addition, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to check and confirm reliability. The results of the analysis of the structural equation model showed that the variables of environmental responsibility, environmental awareness and reward are the variables which would affect women's desire positively and directly, and these variables would finally predict 80% of the changes in the variable of rural women's desire to protect the environment.