Determinants of Human Behavioral Change : Environmental Attitudes and Values Among Norwegian High School Students in Light of the Fridays for Future Movement

Abstract

There is wide scientific consensus that climate change is greatly impacted by anthropogenicfactors. This has been the origin for studies on human attitudes in a range of disciplines; if humans are responsible for the current climate crisis, we must surely also want to alter behaviors which significantly affects the prospects of safe living conditions for our own species? This question lays the foundation for my thesis whichfocuseson attitudes and values of Norwegian high school students in wake of the Fridays for Future movement. By drawing on wider contextual forces of ideology and world order this research investigates how Norwegian youth reflect upon their Western lifestyle, and particularly its carbon footprints impacting global climate change. It further explores to what extent their environmental attitudes have changed in light of the global school strikes. The results indicate that self-enhancement and achievement is prioritized over universal values amongst the students interviewed.