Diferencias de género en las actitudes ambientales de estudiantes de enseñanza media en Chile: Un análisis multidimensional

Abstract

Since the 1970s, different studies have developed scales to measure environmental attitudes, moving from general and anthropocentric approaches towards more specific and multifactorial models. According to the literature, female students tend to show positive environmental attitudes, and it has been observed that female students tend to show more pro-environmental attitudes. In the Chilean context, although there are reports of experiences where moderately positive attitudes have been found, there are no reports on differences associated with the gender of the participants. In this regard, the objective of this study focused on identifying differences in pro-environmental attitudes in Chilean secondary education students according to gender. For this purpose, an instrument on specific environmental problems was applied to a sample of 75 secondary school students. It was found that the students exhibit positive pro-environmental attitudes, mainly regarding environmental issues related to energy, waste, and pollution. Gender differences were found, as female students exhibited higher environmental attitudes across all evaluated dimensions (p < 0,05). These findings suggest the need to adopt environmental education approaches focused on normative and facilitation components, connecting environmental issues with social responsibility and incorporating the gender dimension into educational interventions.