ECOLOGICAL BEHAVIOURS AND VALUES IN THE RURAL AREA – CASE STUDY: ŢARA HAŢEGULUI – RETEZAT

The present paper attempts to assess the rural household behaviour in the 11 communes of Haţeg-Retezat area, in relation with the environment, as well as with the importance attached to its different components by the respondents. The study is based on the questionnaires applied in the rural communities from this area, in the year 2009, which were subsequently grouped into a database. The analysis was performed by using the SPSS software, which represents a quantitative analysis tool, including two dimensions, namely: objective dimensions (linked to the existence of household annexes, distance to the water source, domestic waste and manure storage) and subjective dimensions (how the respondents assessed the quality of water sources and potential risks generated by their poor quality, cleaning modality of the household annexes, importance attached to the protection of different environmental components, as well as the self-assessment of the farming impact on the environment). The main factors that influence the ecological behavior of the rural households from the investigated area are of demographic and social nature: respondent’s age, educational level and occupation.