ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicHomo Aquaticus: New Frontiers in Living and Working in the OceanView all 9 articles
Environmental Beliefs and Marine Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Mediating Roles of Responsibility and Values among Chinese University Students
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Food Science and Technology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China
- 2Mental Health Education and Counseling Center, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China
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This study investigates the psychological mechanisms through which general environmental beliefs influence marine pro-environmental behaviors among Chinese university students, focusing on the parallel mediating roles of marine environmental responsibility and marine environmental value orientations. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1,206 students from 23 universities across 11 provinces in China, using standardized instruments adapted from validated environmental psychology scales. Correlation analysis, hierarchical regression, and parallel mediation modeling with the PROCESS macro (Model 4) were employed to test the hypothesized independent mediation pathways. The results revealed that general environmental beliefs significantly predicted pro-environmental behaviors both directly and indirectly. Responsibility and value orientations functioned as two independent and equally strong mediators, highlighting parallel psychological pathways. Neither gender nor age exerted significant effects, underscoring the predominance of psychological over demographic determinants. Grounded in the Value–Belief–Norm theory and conceptually supported by the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Norm Activation Model, this study provides an integrated framework explaining how cognitive awareness translates into marine conservation behavior. The findings underscore the dual importance of normative obligation and value-based motivation in promoting youth engagement in ocean protection and suggest that marine education and policy design should incorporate strategies that strengthen both responsibility and value orientations.
Keywords: general environmental beliefs, marine pro-environmental behaviors, marine environmental responsibility, marine environmental value, parallel mediation, Chinese university students
Received: 21 Sep 2025; Accepted: 27 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Yang, Zhou and Wang. 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: Linzhao Wang
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