Effect of Social Capital on Environmental Behavior Case Study: Kurdistan Province
Volume 13, Issue 4, Autumn 2013, Pages 90-115
S. Salehi, L. Emamgholi
Abstract The goal of this research is to measure social capital's influence and its dimensions (social networks, social norms and social trust) on environmental behavior. In other words, the main purpose of the present paper is to answer the questions: Whether the increase and decrease of social capital result in any changes in environmental behavior? This is a survey-method research. The statistic sample includes 440 over 18-year-old persons in urban areas of Kurdistan Province who have been chosen based on multistage cluster sampling method. The questionnaire has been the data gathering tool of the paper. The result of the present paper shows that in spite of improper situation and restricted environmental facilities in Kurdistan Province environmentally responsible behavior of the respondents stand at a high level. Indeed, the finding is indicative of a close to medium social capital of the people studied. There is positive and direct relation between social capital and environmental behavior. In other words, environmental behavior becomes responsible as the social capital rises. At the end, the paper discusses the possible reasons for lack of social capital.