Environmental Inequality Among Adolescents: The Serial Mediating Roles of Environmental Information Literacy and Environmental Sensitivity In the Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Environmental Behavior

Background and Purpose : Environmental change has emerged as a critical global issue, with children and adolescents identified as one of the most vulnerable groups to its long-term impacts. Despite increasing awareness of environmental issues, actual pro-environmental behaviors vary according to individuals’ socioeconomic status (SES). This suggests that environmental responses may be unequally distributed across social groups, reflecting the issue of environmental inequality. While previous studies have primarily focused on environmental awareness, participation, or educational experiences, limited research has examined the underlying mechanisms through which SES influences environmental behavior. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of SES on environmental behavior among adolescents, focusing on the serial mediating roles of environmental information literacy and environmental sensitivity.

Methods : This study utilized data from the “Study on Supporting Environmental Practices through Youth Activities” conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute in South Korea. The final sample consisted of 8,916 adolescents. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and Hayes’ PROCESS Macro 4.2. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were conducted to examine general characteristics and relationships among variables. To test the mediation and serial mediation effects of environmental information literacy and environmental sensitivity in the relationship between SES and environmental behavior, PROCESS Model 6 was applied with bootstrapping (5,000 samples, 95% confidence intervals).

Results : The results indicated that SES had a significant positive effect on environmental information literacy (B=.1000, p<.001), and environmental information literacy had a strong positive effect on environmental sensitivity (B=6.8009, p<.001). Both environmental information literacy (B=.8018, p<.001) and environmental sensitivity (B=.1434, p<.001) had significant positive effects on environmental behavior.

The total effect of SES on environmental behavior was significant (B=.3421, p<.001), and the direct effect remained significant after controlling for mediators (B=.1201, p<.01), indicating partial mediation. Indirect effect analyses revealed that the simple mediation effect through environmental information literacy (B=.0802, 95% CI [.0588, .1028]), the simple mediation effect through environmental sensitivity (B = .0443, 95% CI [.0294, .0597]), and the serial mediation effect through environmental information literacy and environmental sensitivity (B=.0975, 95% CI [.0785, .1179]) were all statistically significant.

Conclusions and Implications : This study demonstrates that environmental inequality is not only reflected in the unequal distribution of environmental risks but also in the process through which environmental behaviors are formed. Environmental information literacy and environmental sensitivity serve as key mechanisms linking SES to environmental behavior. These findings suggest that environmental behavior is not solely determined by socioeconomic background but can be improved through modifiable competencies such as information literacy and emotional sensitivity. Accordingly, interventions aimed at promoting adolescents’ environmental behavior should go beyond simple information provision and focus on enhancing both environmental information literacy and sensitivity. This study provides empirical evidence for understanding the micro-level mechanisms of environmental inequality and offers practical implications for environmental education and policy development targeting adolescents.