Investigating Agricultural Professionals’ Intentions and Behaviours towards Water Conservation: Using a Modified Theory of Planned Behaviour

Yazdanpanah, Masoud; Hayati, Dariush; Zamani, Gholam Hossein

Investigating Agricultural Professionals’ Intentions and Behaviours towards Water Conservation: Using a Modified Theory of Planned Behaviour

Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

¹ Ph.D. Student of Agricultural Extension and Education, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

³ Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Despite the increasing importance of water conservation across the world, there is very little understanding about the psychosocial variables that help predict people’s water conservational behaviour. This study used a modified model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), including the additional variables of moral norms, self-identity and subjective myths of the nature as general beliefs, to predict intentions and behaviour regarding water conservation through a random sample of agricultural professionals (n= 80) using the survey method in Bushehr Province. Findings revealed that the modified theory of TPB can explain intention and behaviour regarding water conservation. Multiple regression analysis showed that moral norms, perceived behavioural control and risk perception can predict 68 percent of variances in water conservational intention, while subjective norms and perceived behavioural control can predict 49 percent of variances in water conservational intention based on the original TPB model. Therefore, those agricultural professionals who perceived a greater normative and commitment feeling regarding water conservational behaviour had a higher level of intention to engage in such behaviours and the significance of perceived behaviour control revealed that professionals did not have complete volition in their water conservational behaviour. Furthermore, myths of nature can predict about 39 percent, 20 percent and 28 percent of variances in attitude, moral norms and risk perception regarding water conservation.

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