The Effects of Personal and Social Norms on the Use of Pro-environmental Behaviors: A Case Study of Farmers in Bavi County

The main purpose of this research is to analyze the effects of personal and social norms on the use of pro-environmental behaviors. The statistical population of the research included all the farmers of Bavi County (Khuzestan province). A sample size of 390 farmers was selected for the study using a stratified sampling method with proportional assignment. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. The validity of the research tool was determined based on the opinion of the faculty members of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan and its reliability was determined through Cronbach's alpha. Furthermore, the Average Variance Extracted Index (AVE) was used to determine construct validity and the Composite Reliability Index (CR) was used to determine model reliability. The results of prioritizing pro-environmental behaviors among farmers showed that the two behaviors "using plow at least in order to reduce soil erosion" and "not keeping plant residues on the field and burning them" are the most and least used behaviors by farmers. In addition, the results of structural equation modeling showed that prescriptive, personal, and descriptive norms have significant effects on the willingness and behavior of farmers to use pro-environmental behaviors, which ultimately accounted for 63.1% of the variance of the dependent variables of the research (pro-environmental behavior). The findings of this research, while adding new insights to the existing knowledge in the field of research, can be useful in planning and policy-making to reduce environmental problems caused by the agricultural sector.