Expectation of proenvironmentalteaching behavior and genera ecological behavior in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

The deep crises that threaten well-being and existence could raise people's awareness and lead them to develop more supportive behaviors, especially towards nature. During the COVID-19 quarantine, remote education promoted the rapprochement of teachers and students by sharing personal spaces through video calls. Hence, this research aimed to determine the influence that the pro-environmental behaviors of the teacher as a model influence their students after an online education approach in environmental psychology. For this purpose, a quantitative, cross-sectional study of correlational scope was conducted with 33 college students aged between 19 and 24 years (M=21.69; SD=1.70), 19 women and 14 men, chosen at convenience, to whom the instruments: General Ecological Behavior and Expectation of Environmental Behavior of Others, were applied. Obtained data indicate high pro-environmental behavior and intermediate values for the expectation of the teacher's pro-environmental behavior. In addition, a significant positive correlation between both variables (p < 0.001, r(s) = 0.54) was found. In conclusion, it can be stated that the higher the expectation of pro-environmental behavior of professors as perceived by students, the higher is their acquired pro-environmental behavior, which could mean a challenge for university institutions, and a commitment to achieve that indirect environmental education shows the expected results for the fulfillment of the environmental goals of the public agenda.