How Location Shapes Environmental Awareness Among Inhabitants of Eastern Poland - An Empirical Study.

Environmental awareness and its perception by humans is not an entirely clear issue, and the extent to which problems related to ecology and environmental protection are recognized raises many doubts. Our paper presents findings obtained from the authors' own questionnaire made up of 46 statements carrying positive connotations. A five-level Likert scale was applied to evaluate statements; respondents were asked to specify which level on the scale best corresponded with their view on each statement. In order to identify variables differentiating between specific groups of respondents, the data gathered from questionnaires was subject to a type of statistical analysis called discriminant function analysis. The aim of the study was to analyse links between the place of living and evaluation of the natural environment, certain factors affecting environmental awareness, and willingness to undertake environment-friendly actions by people living in Eastern Poland. The discriminant function analysis enabled categorization of opinions and attitudes of the respondents according to their place of living, indicating that their diversified nature results from the place they inhabit. The analysis revealed that a grouping variable used to categorize places of living has statistically significant discriminatory power. Inhabitants of large cities are interested in the subject of environmental protection, but they pay less attention to other aspects of "environmental awareness" than people living in small towns or in the countryside, which is largely attributable to their close contact with nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]