MAJOR PERSONALITY TRAITS INFLUENCING ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE: A CASE OF URBAN LEARNING ECOLOGIES

The grim actualities of modern societies have shifted the attention of human beings from civil wars and beggary to environmental issues such as pollution and climate change. The subtle shifts in environmental balance that are observable from global warming, water scarcity, and poor harvest resulting from erratic rainfall distributions across different countries of the world has led to global campaigns in order to promote positive environment behavioural change. Several change agents have advocated the use of mitigation practices such as using emerging western and indigenous technologies and renewable energies, they have overlooked the major personality traits that will implement the proposed changes. Hence, this research explores the influence of major personality traits on students' environmental knowledge in urban learning spaces. The social cognitive theory was used to untangle the conforming and non-conforming environmental behaviours of students in urban learning spaces. The research adopts a 'field-based' MO to gather data from four hundred and sixty-two students that were randomly selected from thirteen secondary schools in urban centres in Nigeria. Research instruments such as the NEO Five-Factor Inventory and Environmental Knowledge Test were adapted to collect data from the selected students. The quantitative data were subjected to multiple regression analysis. Results showed that there was a significant influence of the major personality factors on students' environmental knowledge (R= 0.297). The research recommends that teachers should include these major personality traits in the environmental education programme of their schools.