An Environmental Psychology Course and African-American Students’ Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors

There is a paucity of research on factors influencing African-American attitudes and beliefs about pro-environmental behaviors. Environmental psychology is a growing interdisciplinary field that focuses on the relationship between humans and both the built and natural environment. This paper presents an exploratory study of 12 students enrolled in an undergraduate Environmental Psychology course at an HBCU. The course provided a unique opportunity both to educate the students about environmental issues and to study the impact of the course on their pro-environmental behaviors. Results showed that students improved their understanding of environmental justice; 10 of the 12 students reported increased intention and efforts to engage in pro-environmental behaviors; and students whose parents encouraged outdoor behavior in general were more likely to express such changes in pro-environmental behaviors.