Study On The Influencing Factors Of Water Environment Protection Behavior Of Residents Along The Middle And Lower Reaches Of The Yangtze River

The Yangtze River is the largest river in China and the birthplace of the Chinese nation.The main stream flows from west and east through nine provinces and two cities in China and then injects into the East China Sea.The total water resources account for35% of the country,and the basin area accounts for about one-fifth of China’s total land area.The ecological environment of the Yangtze River has an important impact on the production and life of residents in the basin,and is also closely related to the overall ecological security of China.The rich ecological resources in the Yangtze River basin,such as water resources,biological resources and wetland resources,not only provide sufficient means of production for the people along the coast,but also provide an important material basis for the development and prosperity of the Chinese nation.However,under the increasingly frequent human development activities,the Yangtze river natural environment is overwhelmed,sewage abuse,excessive fishing,the phenomenon such as illegal sand mining,cause the Yangtze river and tributary water quality dropped sharply,part of the lakes ecological regulation ability degradation,river basin biodiversity also under unprecedented threat.Since 2016,General Secretary Xi Jinping has presided over several symposiums on the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt,stressing that the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt must be considered from the long-term interests of the nation,and put forward the serious requirements of "putting the restoration of the Yangtze River ecological environment in an overwhelming position" and "we should jointly focus on greater protection instead of large-scale development".Under the planning and deployment of the CPC Central Committee,the state and coastal local governments have formulated a series of rules and policies on water environmental protection,and various special environmental protection actions have been carried out in full swing.However,as the main body of environmental protection,the coastal residents have not fully played their due role in the great protection of the Yangtze River.Under the environmental governance system led by the Chinese government,the actions of individual residents in environmental protection have always been absent.According to news reports,residents along the coast go fish and sell aquatic products from the Yangtze River without permission,dumping sewage,camping and rolling by driving.Residents along the coast generally lack good environmental protection habits,and it is difficult to effectively participate in public environmental activities.Therefore,it is also urgent to study the participation of citizens in environmental protection under the background of the great protection of the Yangtze River,explore the influencing factors of residents ’environmental behavior along the coast,and find out the ways to improve the enthusiasm of residents’ participation in environmental protection.This study tries to explain the following questions: First,what factors will affect the water environment protection behavior of coastal residents? Second,what effect will the individual characteristics of the coastal residents have on their water environment protection behavior? What is the mechanism of action? Third,under the influence of these factors,what measures should be taken to improve the environmental behavior level of residents?This paper uses the research method of environmental sociology.First,this paper systematically combs the research on Yangtze River environmental protection,environmental behavior and influencing factors,and the research on residents’ attitude behavior in water environment protection.Then,the normative activation model commonly used in environmental sociology is extended combined with the actual situation of this study,and the hypothesis H1-H8 is proposed to form the hypothesis model of this study.It includes five independent variables composed of outcome awareness,responsibility attribution,individual norms,environmental risk perception and environmental knowledge,and two dependent variables composed of individual environmental behavior and public environmental behavior,as well as social atmosphere as regulatory variables.Next,four cities of Nanjing,Wuhan,Wuhu and Jiujiang in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were selected for online questionnaire survey.On the basis of descriptive statistical analysis,the data generated by the survey were analyzed for quantitative analysis using structural equation model and hierarchical regression method.Using SPSS26.0 and AMOS24.0 software,the overall characteristics of the sample,the reliability and validity of the questionnaire,were tested for the direct,indirect and regulatory effects present in the model.Based on the results of the quantitative analysis,this study found that:First,residents’ awareness of the results of water environment protection has a positive effect on individual norms of water environment protection,and can influence individual and public environmental behaviors through individual norms.Second,residents’ risk perception of the deterioration of the water environment in the Yangtze River can have a positive impact on individual norms,and indirectly act on public environmental behaviors through individual norms,but the indirect effect on individual environmental behavior is not significant,and lack of direct effect on the two environmental behaviors.Third,resident’s degree of environmental knowledge can either indirectly act on environmental behavior through individual norms,or directly promote the generation of environmental behavior.Fourth,the social atmosphere of residents themselves plays a positive role in regulating the influence of individual norms on environmental behavior.Fifth,the distribution of age and water environment behavior shows the characteristics of "high in the middle and low on the middle".Environmental behavior is positively correlated with education level,and the level of environmental behavior in rural areas is the highest.Based on the research conclusion,this study puts forward the following policy suggestions for the water environment protection work of the Yangtze River: First,change the way of publicity and public opinion guidance,and cultivate the public awareness of environmental protection subjects.Second,further strengthen the public environmental education,improve the public knowledge level of water environmental protection.Third,create an atmosphere for coastal residents to participate in the protection of the Yangtze River,and encourage the integration of public environmental behaviors into daily life through activities.