Investigating the relationship between prospective science teachers' attitudes towards environmental problems and sustainable consumption behaviors

In this study, it was aimed to examine pre-service science teachers' attitudes towards environmental issues, their sustainable consumption behaviors, and the relationship between these two variables. The research employs non-experimental quantitative designs, specifically causal-comparative and correlational survey designs. Within this framework, the causal-comparative design was used to investigate whether pre-service science teachers' attitudes towards environmental issues and their sustainable consumption behaviors differ based on gender and grade level. To determine the direction and strength of the relationship between attitudes towards environmental issues and sustainable consumption behaviors, the correlational survey design was employed. The sample of the study consisted of 94 pre-service science teachers enrolled in the second, third, and fourth years of the Science Education Program at the Faculty of Education, Ordu University, during the 2024–2025 academic year. Data was collected using the Attitude Scale Towards Environmental Issues and the Sustainable Consumption Behavior Scale. The data obtained from the implementation of the scales were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, and the results were discussed accordingly. The findings indicated that pre-service teachers' attitudes towards the environment were at a moderate level. Although not statistically significant, female participants scored higher than males in terms of environmental attitudes. In terms of grade level, there was a general trend of increasing attitude scores as the grade level increased. Additionally, positive and significant correlations were identified among the affective sub-dimensions of the attitude scale, suggesting that environmental attitudes should be considered as a holistic construct. Regarding sustainable consumption behaviors, male pre-service teachers had slightly higher average scores, but this difference was also not statistically significant. Correlation analyses related to this scale revealed that the "non-essential purchasing" sub-dimension was negatively associated with the other sub-dimensions and with the overall scale mean. This finding suggests that tendencies toward overconsumption negatively affect sustainable behaviors such as environmental sensitivity, saving, and reuse. Finally, a low but significant positive correlation was found between environmental attitudes and sustainable consumption behaviors. At the sub-dimension level, significant relationships were especially observed between environmental sensitivity and the affective components of attitude.