The Impact of Institutional Trust and Environmental Attitudes on Preferences for Participation Method in Rural Household Waste Management

Household waste management is an important foundation for rural revitalization strategies. With the in–depth advancement of rural revitalization strategies in China, improving the participation level of farmers in household waste management has become a hot topic of social and policy attention. Using the survey data of farmers in four counties and districts of Shaanxi Province, China, this study explores the mechanism underlying the effect of institutional trust and environmental attitudes on the preferred method of rural households to participate in household waste management. The results show that institutional trust significantly impacts farmers’ preference for payment–only and paying for work but has no significant impact on their preference for labor–only. Environmental attitudes have significant effects on their choice of labor–only, payment–only, and labor–and–payment. Therefore, the government must respect farmers’ preferred methods to participate in rural household waste management, improve their institutional trust, and strengthen publicity and education to guide farmers to actively participate in waste management.