Empathy, prosociality and sustainable consumer behavior as statistical predictors of attitudes toward sustainable development in teacher education

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in teacher education is widely recognized as a key context for advancing sustainability, yet empirical research has often examined sustainability-related attitudes and dispositions in isolation. This study adopts an integrative approach to examine how empathy, prosocial behavior, sustainable consumer behavior, and responsibility are associated with attitudes toward sustainable development (ASD). Using validated self-report instruments, data were collected from 330 student teachers and analyzed through reliability testing, correlational analyses, and domain-specific multiple regression models. The findings confirm that ASD is a multidimensional construct characterized by distinct yet overlapping patterns of psychological and behavioral correlates across environmental, economic, social, and educational domains. Empathy (both affective and cognitive), prosocial behavioral tendencies, environmentally conscious consumption, and feelings of moral responsibility were consistently associated with stronger ASD, although their relative contributions varied by domain. Prosocial behavior emerged as a salient correlate of the social and educational dimensions of ASD, while responsibility and sustainable consumption were more strongly linked to environmental and economic orientations. Gender showed a small but significant association with the educational domain, underscoring heterogeneity within student teacher populations. By modeling multiple correlates simultaneously, this study extends existing ESD research beyond fragmented analyses. The results highlight the value of operationalizing prosociality as a multidimensional construct and offer original empirical insights to inform the design of responsive and inclusive ESD curricula in teacher education.