Machiavellianism and spiritual intelligence as predictors of waste-prevention behaviours among Malaysian university students

Understanding the psychological factors related to waste-prevention behaviours of university students could enable local governments and policy makers to craft effective policies to reduce waste. this study utilised a questionnaire-based survey to assess the associations between spiritual intelligence and machiavellianism as factors that influence waste-prevention behaviours. a total of 210 participants from universiti putra malaysia completed the questionnaires,including the demographic questions,spiritual intelligence inventory,mach iv,and the waste-prevention behaviours. the data were analysed using structural equation modelling (sem). the results showed that individuals with higher spiritual intelligence and lower machiavellianism were more likely to report a positive attitude towards waste-prevention behaviours,and that an inverse association existed between spiritual intelligence and machiavellianism. overall,these variables explained 12.0% of the variance in waste-prevention behaviours. therefore,these findings reinforce the importance of personality traits and cognitive abilities in waste-prevention behaviours. © universiti putra malaysia press.