A Study on the Consciousness of Rural Community Residents' Environment Preservation

농촌지역주민의 환경보전 의식구조에 관한 연구

The objectives of this study were: (a) to measure the level of rural community residents' environmental preservation consciousness, (b) to identify the variables related to their level of environmental preservation consciousness, and (c) to provide suggestions to improve their environmental preservation consciousness. The major findings of this study were as follows; 1) Personal characteristics- gender, years of education, age, and income- were related to the rural communities residents' the environmental preservation consciousness. 2) Social characteristics- membership in environmental organizations, participation in environmental preservation campaigns, environmental dispute within their communities, experiences of participation in environmental dispute in their communities, participation in environmental education-were related to the rural community residents' the environmental preservation consciousness. Based on the above findings, the following suggestions are offered: 1) To improve rural community residents' environmental preservation consciousness, residents in rural community should be motivated and encouraged to participate in environmental and agriculture-related organizations. 2) To effectively solve environmental disputes among rural community residents and between rural communities, central and local governments should provide opportunities for rural residents to acquire their sound environmental consciousness. 3) Environmental preservation consciousness should be assessed including affective domain, cognitive domain, and behavioral domain. Appropriate environmental education programs should be developed after considering rural residents' personal characteristics including education level, income, gender, years of residency, and are.