This study examines the effects of heightened awareness of circular economy (CE) principles on individuals' evaluations of sustainable development within Brazil's resource‐rich yet environmentally challenged context. Employing social learning theory (SLT) as our theoretical framework, we investigate how increased knowledge of CE influences individuals' cognitive perceptions, enhancing their understanding and favourable assessment of sustainable practices. Data were collected through a nationwide survey of the general public, incorporating five CE dimensions: waste management, rational use of resources, technical cycle, sustainable products/packaging and dematerialization/collaborative consumption. Our results reveal that a deeper awareness of CE significantly improves individuals' positive evaluations concerning the environment, future generations' survival, socio‐economic development and engagement between people and institutions in sustainable practices. These positive evaluations are indicative of a shift in perception that precedes and may catalyse sustainable behaviours, suggesting that cognitive engagement is a critical precursor to actionable change. The study confirms that SLT effectively elucidates the bidirectional and complex interaction between cognition and evaluation within environmental contexts, thereby enriching the understanding of how sustainable practices can be adopted and promoted. The implications of our research are profound, suggesting that educational and policy interventions aimed at increasing CE knowledge could substantially impact sustainable development outcomes.

中文翻译：

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从意识到行动：理解循环经济与可持续发展良好评价之间的关系


本研究探讨了在巴西资源丰富但环境面临挑战的背景下，循环经济（CE）原则意识的提高对个人可持续发展评估的影响。我们采用社会学习理论（SLT）作为我们的理论框架，研究增加CE知识如何影响个人的认知感知，增强他们对可持续实践的理解和有利评估。数据是通过对全国公众进行的调查收集的，纳入了五个CE维度：废物管理、资源合理利用、技术周期、可持续产品/包装和去物质化/协作消费。我们的结果表明，对CE的更深入认识可以显着提高个人对环境、子孙后代的生存、社会经济发展以及人与机构之间参与可持续实践的积极评价。这些积极的评价表明观念的转变先于并可能促进可持续行为，这表明认知参与是可采取行动的变革的关键先兆。研究证实，SLT 有效地阐明了环境背景下认知和评估之间的双向且复杂的相互作用，从而丰富了对如何采用和推广可持续实践的理解。我们的研究意义深远，表明旨在增加CE知识的教育和政策干预可能会对可持续发展成果产生重大影响。