SOCIAL NORMS AND HEALTH LITERACY AS PREDICTOR OF PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR: EVIDENCE FROM NORTH MACEDONIA
Keywords:
social norms, pro-environmental behavior, health literacy, adolescentsAbstract
Health literacy receives significant attention in the context of climate change, health care and beyond. Being health literate means that individuals have the ability to understand health – related information and, based on this information, make healthy decisions, decisions that align with health care. In this process of integrating knowledge, decisions, and healthy behaviors, environmental health plays an important role. Focused on chemical, physical and biological factors, environmental health addresses the impact of these factors, and not only on the health of individuals but also on communities as a whole. Being environmental health literate means understanding, but also using information on environmental health.
Studies show the effects of various factors on the well-being of young people, but the awareness of youth regarding health has an impact on their behavior towards phenomena that affect their health. Studies reveal a gap between knowledge about environment and pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to predict the behavior of individuals, respectively, pro-environmental behavior based on health literacy and social norms which support environmental health literacy. The study included a total of 1687 adolescents aged 15 years, participating in the HBSC (Health and Behavior of School-aged Children) - North Macedonia study, during the year 2022. Of the total number of participants, 68.5% are Macedonian adolescents and 31.5% Albanian, as a reflection of the population structure in RMV. The participants consist of 50% adolescent boys and 50% adolescent girls.
The data from the binary regression analysis show that health literacy, pro-environmental social norms, age, economic status and ethnicity are important predictors of pro-environmental behavior. This proves that not only health literacy, but also the more that social norms are supportive in relation to prosocial behavior, the more likely adolescents are to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The role of economic status, age and ethnicity of adolescents in pro-environmental behavior will also be discussed. The study provides useful data to clarify the gap between knowledge about environmental health literacy and pro environmental behavior as well as to design programs that will help to enhance pro environmental behavior.
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