Search

This article assesses students' understanding of global climate change (GCC) and social factors affecting it. It was hypothesized that students who demonstrate pro-environmental attitudes are more likely to possess higher knowledge of GCC. It was further hypothesized that trust and personal efficiency would have a positive effect on the knowledge of GCC. To this end, 816 students of several universities in the Iranian Mazandaran province were randomly selected for a survey. Results show that the level of students' understanding of the GCC phenomenon is moderate and the social factors, environmental attitude, trust and personal efficiency have influence on their knowledge of GCC. Furthermore, the study shows that male students possess more knowledge of GCC than female ones.

Effectively managing and mitigating “human-wildlife conflict” (HWC) by adjusting the use of cultivated land to realize the coexistence of humans and wildlife plays an important role in protecting biodiversity, ensuring food security, improving cultivated land use efficiency, and improving the livelihoods of community residents in nature reserves. Moreover, conservation biologists are paying growing attention to HWC, which is a significant global environmental problem. To achieve a sustainable solution and mitigate such conflict, it is necessary to focus on the conflict’s human dimensions and direct and indirect economic and social effects. Human behaviors are affected by values, attitudes, norms, and economic factors. Thus, identifying those factors might be of use to predict human reactions toward wildlife. The framework of this study is a combination of Planned Behavior Theory (TPB) and Wildlife Value Orientations (WVOs) that can identify and predict the behavior of farmers and ranchers in dealing with wildlife by creating a valueattitude-behavior cognitive hierarchy. The study was designed as a stratified random sample of 200 interviewees in Mazandaran province. We used the results (individual characteristics, questions related to conflicts, WVOs, and TPB variables) to analyze and predict the pro-environmental behavior of interviewees in conflict conditions. The results demonstrated that WVOs in total could predict 32% of TPB variables. The attitude and perceived behavior control variables had significant effects on behavioral intention (Respectively, (β = 0.49, p < 0.001) and (β = 0. 21, p < 0.05), and in total, these variables can predict 22% of the pro-environmental behavioral, whereas subjective norms had none. Most notably, combining two theories significantly enhanced the predictive power and comprehensiveness of the ultimate framework for predicting farmers' and ranchers’ pro-environmental behavior. The findings provide a clearer perception of factors driving the non-environmental behavior toward wildlife in conflict situations. So, the TPB and WVOs can be effective tools for investigating and reducing HWC. Also, they can be a basis for developing human-based conflict research in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural calamities such as drought, famine, and climate change have collided to create a humanitarian crisis. For the Horn of Africa (HoA), famine is among the factors that have caused the worst historical damages to the individual countries. Man-made calamities such as decentralized agricultural, pastoral activities and forest clearing are also root causes for the damage. Institutional arrangements (IAs) on land tenure systems and agricultural land conversion (ALC) as a part of this problem will be analyzed in this paper. Poor IAs on land are considered the main cause of insecure land tenure which diminishes the productivity of agriculture in this region, and this, specifically in times of drought, exacerbates famine. Accordingly, the paper explores the idea that to what extent poor IAs on land tenure systems can explain the famine in the HoA. IAs on land comprise two main functions: land quality management and regulation and standard-setting for land utilization. The types of IAs for land often differ. The "optimal" arrangement depends on political, economic, social, climatic, geographical, and technical factors that together form a complex system of IAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between maternal perfectionism and mental health of preschool children in Tehran. The statistical population included all preschool students in District 2 of Tehran in the academic years 2018-2019. Their number was 476 this year. Using Krejcie and Morgan table and one-stage cluster random sampling, 220 people were selected as the statistical sample. The mental health questionnaire of Terry Short et al., Mental health questionnaire was used to collect data. The validity of the questionnaires was assessed and confirmed using content validity and reliability by Cronbach's alpha. Descriptive statistics (mean, etc.) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation test, multiple regression test & independent t-test) were used to analyze the data. The results showed that mental health increases with increasing perfectionism and positive perfectionism among mothers. With the increase of negative perfectionism among the screws, the mental health of preschool students decreases. Positive perfectionism has been able to have a positive effect on the mental health variable of newcomers and predict it, and negative perfectionism has been able to have a negative impact on the mental health variable of newcomers and predict it, between mental health in both groups of male and female newcomers there is no significant difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted with the general title and purpose of examining the relationship between personality traits (excitement, assertiveness, & psychological toughness), religious attitude and marital satisfaction with drug addiction readiness in men and women in Arak. The study population included all married men and women in Arak in 2011 that had at least two years of marital experience, a maximum of 45 years of age and were literate at the cycle level. The research sample consisted of 400 people (including 200 females & 200 males) who were sampled. These questionnaires include: Addiction Readiness Assessment Scale (APS) (Zargar, 2006); Enrich Marital Satisfaction Scale 47 items (Sanaei & Alaqmand, 1999); Allport Religious Attitude Scale (ROS) (Mokhtari, 2000); Kubas Psychological Hardiness Scale (Kiamarsi, 2007); Existence Measurement Scale (ASA) (Shahni Yilagh, 2009); and Zaker Man Excitement Scale (quoted by Hassanzadeh, 2009). There was no relationship between psychological toughness and readiness for addiction in women, but there is an inverse relationship between men and with increasing toughness, readiness for addiction decreases. There was a significant direct relationship between the means of existence and readiness for addiction in women, but no relationship was seen in men. Also, due to the inconsistency of the findings of the present study with the findings of other countries in the fields of emotion seeking and psychological toughness, it is suggested that the quality of excitement and toughness and scales for measuring these variables be considered as future research topics by researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As most of the undernourished people in the world live in developing countries, achieving food security plays a major role on the daily agenda of policy makers. For achieving food security, there exist various strategies such as supply management, demand management, or better food distribution. This article aims to analyze different scenarios in a developing country context and seeks to provide an overview that could be the most suitable approach to achieve food security. In this context, not only producing more food is considered but also the environmental and social implications that come along with a higher production. Some of the existing options for achieving food security seem not to be appropriate anymore; for instance, cultivation expansion, as this can only be achieved at high social and environmental costs. Other options, such as sustainable intensification or waste management, seem to be more appropriate. The article concludes that there exists no stand-alone solution to the food security problem. Instead, an integrated approach that combines different options might rather be the key to sustainable food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]