Date of Award

3-17-2026

Thesis Type

PhD

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Institute for Advanced Studies

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

Sustainability consciousness refers to individuals’ knowingness, attitudes, and behaviors related to sustainable development. It is important for engineering students as engineering plays an essential role in tackling basic environmental issues and satisfying fundamental human needs. Past studies have researched sustainability consciousness. However, several gaps remained. First, prior studies focused only on attitudes and behaviors, neglecting a holistic perspective of sustainability consciousness. Second, variables like professional identity were understudied. Third, past bivariate analyses could not fully explain complex issues. Finally, limited studies targeted engineering students in Shanxi, a coal-dependent Chinese region facing a growing tension between environmental preservation and sustainable growth. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the level of sustainability consciousness (operationalized as three variables: sustainability knowingness, sustainability attitudes, and sustainability behaviors) of engineering students in Shanxi, compare with those of non-engineering students. Then, it examined the influences of professional identity, empathy with nature, and consideration of future consequences (operationalized as two variables: CFC-future and CFC-immediate) in predicting the sustainability knowingness, attitudes, and behaviors. The present study utilized a prediction research design and employed the snowball sampling method to collect data. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed simultaneously among engineering and non-engineering students through an online platform. The engineering students answered questionnaires that consisted of five sections: (1) Demographic Background, (2) Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ), (3) Engineering Identity Scale (EIS), (4) Dispositional Empathy with Nature Scale (DENS), and (5) Consideration of Future Consequences scale (CFC-6), while non-engineering students answered only section (1) and (2). A total data of 1025 engineering and 948 non-engineering students were collected. According to the descriptive statistics using SPSS 26, the engineering students reported their levels of sustainability knowingness (M = 4.44, SD = 0.66), attitudes (M = 4.47, SD = 0.66), and behaviors (M = 4.42, SD = 0.67), and the levels for non-engineering students were sustainability knowingness (M = 4.41, SD = 0.67), attitudes (M = 4.43, SD = 0.66), and behaviors (M = 4.40, SD = 0.67). Findings of the independent samples t-test showed no significant differences in the levels of sustainability knowingness (t = 0.97, p = .33, Cohen’s d = 0.05), sustainability attitudes (t = 1.15, p = .25, Cohen’s d = 0.06), and sustainability behaviors (t = 0.81, p = .42, Cohen’s d = 0.03) between the two groups. Furthermore, a measurement model and structural model using AMOS 28 were performed. The measurement model demonstrated adequate construct validity (χ2 /df = 4.85, CFI = 0.94, IFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.94, NFI = 0.93, RFI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.06, and SRMR = 0.05), convergent validity (AVE﹥0.50, and factor loading﹥0.70), discriminant validity (HTMT﹤.90) and composite reliability (CR﹥0.70). Moreover, the structural model tested the statistical hypotheses, showing that professional identity, empathy with nature, and CFC-future significantly and positively influenced sustainability knowingness, attitudes, and behaviors, and CFC-immediate significantly and negatively influenced sustainability attitudes and behaviors. These results highlighted the roles of professional identity, empathy with nature, CFC-future, and CFC-immediate in fostering sustainability knowingness, attitudes, and behaviors of engineering students. Practical implications were proposed for enhancing sustainability consciousness among engineering students. Future studies are recommended to expand to diverse geographical contexts, consider more predictor variables, and experimentally explore the actual effects through interventions.

Initial

khm

Additional Information

Thesis (PhD) – Institute for Advanced Studies, Universiti Malaya, 2025.

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