Sociological Explanation for Solid Waste Management Behavior (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) and Effective Factors on It among the Citizens of Abadan

This study has investigated the effective social factors on solid waste management behaviors (reduce, reuse, and recycle) in Abadan city. 395 people who were selected using the multi-stage random sampling method responded to the questions. Based on the descriptive findings, the mean age of the respondents is 32.5, and 53.7% are men and 46.3% are women. The analytical findings show that there is a positive and significant relationship between environmental attitudes and reusing and recycling. Mental norms in both dimensions of "descriptive norms" and "emphatic norms", and citizenship culture in both dimensions of "obligations" and "participation" have shown a positive and significant relationship with waste management behavior. In addition, age has a negative and significant relationship with waste reduction. The mean for solid waste management behavior is significantly different among differently educated groups. The mean for reusing among women is significantly higher than among men and the mean for reduction and reusing are significantly different between single and married people. The regression analysis indicates that the independent variables can explain 0.38 of the dependent variable and the perceived behavior control in its external dimension is the most powerful variable for predicting the dependent variable.