| Summary: | 碩士 === 明新科技大學 === 服務事業管理研究所 === 100 === Taiwan is an island nation with over 121 offshore islands and reefs, and a combined coastline of approximately 1,566 km. Because it is situated at the intersection between the Eurasian and Philippine plates, the sea floor geology and water currents vary significantly. This provides an inhabitable environment for various marine life species. Statistics show that marine life species in the waters surrounding Taiwan accounts for approximately one-tenth of the global marine life species. However studies have shown that with the growth and development of marine tourism, there has been a decrease in coral reef growth. If scuba divers have improper knowledge of the marine environment or act improperly, they may damage the marine environment. This study presents a discussion on whether the marine environment cognition of scuba divers affects their attitude towards it. Additionally, this study explores whether scuba divers’ knowledge of the urgency and importance of protecting the marine environment influences them to demonstrate behavior benefiting the marine environment.
According to the empirical analysis results of this study, there is a correlation between recreational divers’ cognition and attitude toward marine environment, a significant correlation between recreational divers’ environmental cognition and environmental behavior, and a significant correlation between recreational divers’ environmental attitude and environmental behavior. This corresponds with the results of previous studies. This study is focused on the personal backgrounds of scuba divers, and further analysis is conducted to show that scuba divers without a diving license have more knowledge of biology compared to those who are licensed; scuba divers who have never dived in foreign waters show higher levels for a portion of the environmental cognition and attitude constructs compared to those who have; licensed diving instructors have a better attitude toward the environment compared to those who are unlicensed; divers who have joined marine life preservation-related organizations have a better attitude toward the environment compared to those who have not.
In compliance with these empirical analysis results, this study recommends that scuba diving instruction systems should increase the emphasis on marine environment-related cognition, environmental preservation-related knowledge, and the current state of the ocean when training diving instructors. This ensures that scuba diving instructors have firm and proper ecological knowledge and preservation concepts and that they will transmit these ideas to divers to increase recreational divers’ environmental cognition, attitude, and behavior.
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