ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1623231
This article is part of the Research TopicHomo Aquaticus: New Frontiers in Living and Working in the OceanView all 8 articles
Understanding the Psychological Pathways from Ocean Literacy to Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Mediating Roles of Marine Responsibility and Values
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China
- 2Guangdong Industry Polytechnic University, guangzhou, China
- 3Kaifeng University, Kaifeng, China
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This study investigates the psychological mechanisms linking ocean literacy to pro-environmental behavior, focusing on the mediating roles of marine environmental responsibility and marine values. We conducted a large-scale survey among 1,206 university students across 23 universities in 11 provinces of China, employing validated questionnaires and advanced statistical analyses, including structural equation modeling and mediation analysis. The results indicate that ocean literacy significantly enhances individuals' sense of environmental responsibility and strengthens pro-environmental values, which in turn increase engagement in conservation behaviors such as reducing plastic use and participating in beach clean-ups. By integrating theoretical frameworks from environmental psychology, such as the Value-Belief-Norm Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, our findings highlight the importance of addressing cognitive, affective, and normative processes to promote sustainable environmental actions. This study offers important implications for designing educational interventions and behavioral change strategies in marine conservation.
Keywords: Ocean literacy, pro-ocean environmental behavior, marine environmental responsibility, marine values, Chain mediation model
Received: 05 May 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 WANG, Gao, Shi and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Li Zhang, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China
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