Levels of Separation of Behavioral Antecedents Based on Sustainability Indicators and Farmers Individual Characteristics (Case Study: Ghalehgang County)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Reclamation of Arid Regions, Faculty of Natural Resources, Higher Education Complex of Saravan, Sistan & Baluchestan, Iran.

2 Professor, Department of Reclamation of Arid and Mountainous Regions, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension & Education, Faculty of Agricultural Science & Engineering, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.

4 Professor, Department of Environmental Systems Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Abstract

One of the sustainability challenges is the gap between sustainability guidelines and action-based decision-making by the target communities. Farmers' behavior as a decision-maker is also a factor influencing the future of sustainability. Interdisciplinary approaches such as human-environmental systems are effective for sustainable management and solving the challenges of sustainability. For this purpose, this study was conducted to investigate the sustainable behavior of agricultural stakeholders and evaluate the separation of behavioral antecedent levels of capability based on sustainability indicators in the form of five capitals and individual characteristics of farmers. The statistical population of this study included 5024 agricultural stakeholders of Ghalehgang County, of which 389 people were selected as a sample by stratified sampling method with appropriate proportion, and two behavioral antecedents of perceived usefulness and perceived compatibility were measured. The research tool was a questionnaire and its validity and reliability were assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis using Lisrel 8.80 software. The statistical method for distinguishing and predicting the status of behavioral antecedents was binary logistic regression using SPSS 25 software. The overall result of the research shows that physical stability indicators are an important variable in predicting the behavior of users. It also turned out that the residence location is effective in predicting behavior. Regarding the individuals' perceived usefulness component, human indicators and the type of water source are significant, while for the perceived compatibility component, social indicators and the type of agricultural activity have a more significant predictive effect.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Rural Research
Volume 13, Issue 3
December 2022
Pages 408-419

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History

  • Receive Date: 03 September 2021
  • Revise Date: 02 December 2021
  • Accept Date: 04 December 2021

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