The role of spiritual health in enhancing environmental behavior: a structural equation modeling study in Iran

Environmental behavior refers to how individuals interact with their surroundings. These behaviors may be environmentally friendly and responsible; conversely, they may be completely negative or anti-environmental. Responsible environmental behaviors constitute a set of individual actions in society toward the environment, which includes a wide range of feelings, desires, and special preparations related to the environment. Spiritual health refers to a sense of meaning, purpose, and connectedness in life, often expressed through moral values, religious beliefs, or inner peace. Theoretically, higher spiritual health may foster responsibility and empathy toward nature, encouraging environmentally responsible behaviors. This is a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study that was conducted from 2022 to 2023 across 16 provinces of Iran. The data collection tools in this study included two validated questionnaires for environmental behavior and spiritual health, which contain 32 and 48 questions, respectively. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted using AMOS (version 24) to analyze the relationships between spiritual health and environmental behavior. This study had a total 5548 participants; 46.4% were male and 53.6% were female. The average age ranged was between 30 and 40 years. In addition to examining the relationship between the two main variables, the present study investigates the theoretical hypothesis of a positive and significant relationship between spiritual health with environmental behavior along with other influential variables such as age, gender, education level, income, job, and number of family members. The results indicate a significant positive relationship between spiritual health and environmental behavior, highlighting the potential role of spiritual health in promoting eco-friendly and environmentally responsible behaviors. By emphasizing religious teachings and strengthening spiritual health, people’s environmental behavior can be positively impacted. Providing an appropriate framework can enhance environmental behavior and consequently promote environmental protection.