A Study of Attitudes Toward a Sustainable Future Among Hungarian University Students in Vojvodina

Abstract

This study examined environmental attitudes, eco-emotions, and mental health among Hungarian university students enrolled in teacher education and engineering programmes in Vojvodina. Overall, the students displayed positive environmental attitudes. Teacher education students showed more positive environmental attitudes, a stronger preservation-oriented perspective, higher levels of general ecological worry, and more pronounced negative consequences of eco-anxiety, whereas engineering students demonstrated a stronger utilization-oriented perspective. Weak to moderate associations were found between environmental attitudes and eco-emotions. However, eco-emotions were not significantly associated with well-being, resilience, or self-regulation. The findings suggest that greater environmental sensitivity may be accompanied by stronger eco-emotional involvement but does not in itself indicate poorer mental health. The study provides data from an under-researched regional, linguistic, and cultural context and highlights the importance of jointly considering environmental attitudes and eco-emotions in higher education.