Measurement of proecological attitudes within new ecological paradigm in Polish current settings

The NEP (New Ecological Paradigm) scale is an internationally used measure of environmental attitudes and a predictor of pro-ecological behaviours (Dunlap, Van Liere, Merting, & Jones, 2000). In the current study we investigate the factor structure of the scale in order to state if it fits the theoretical model concerning the Polish population. We use the GEB (General Ecological Behaviour) scale as a test of the convergent validity of NEP scale results. The online study made use of a convenience sample of people aged 17–68 years, N = 305. Our study revealed that the theoretical concept of the NEP scale, including its five-factorial solution proposed by the authors of the scale, does not fit our results. After having conducted the exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) we found a two-factorial structure to be more appropriate, but the newly revealed solution was still not completely satisfactory according to the obtained psychometric parameters. Convergent validity of NEP was confirmed. However, socio-demographic characteristics of participants in the study were not related to the frequency of pro-ecological behaviours in general.

Assessing Children’s Environmental Worldviews and Concerns

The goal of the present research was to assess the environmental worldviews and concerns of students from the fourth to the seventh grade in Slovenia. The New Ecological Paradigm Scale for Children was translated and validated for use with Slovenian primary school students (N = 310). The students were also asked about their environmental concerns (using statements from the Environmental Motives Scale) and demographic questions. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for the New Ecological Paradigm scale using AMOS software, confirming a three-dimensional model with ten items. The students showed the highest agreement with the items in the factor Rights of Nature, and the lowest agreement with Human Exemptionalism. The environmental attitudes of the students decreased from the fourth to the seventh grade, while altruistic environmental concerns significantly increased with higher grades. Gender differences were not statistically significant for environmental worldviews and concerns. The reported results show that biospheric environmental concern positively correlates with the factors Rights of Nature and belief in Eco-Crisis, and negatively correlates with Human Exemptionalism. The New Ecological Paradigm tool will enable the evaluation of education programmes for children in Slovenia.

Environmental Worldview: A Case Study of Young People from Kosovo

Understanding attitudes towards the environment is important because they often determine behaviour that either increases or decreases environmental quality. In this article we investigate the environmental worldview of the young people from Kosovo. The New Revised Environmental Paradigm Scale or New Ecological Paradigm Scale, known as NEP Scale (Dunlap et al., 2000) was used. The study involved 330 young people age 18-20. 150 young people are from secondary schools, and other (180) are from some different faculties at the State University in Mitrovica. The mean score for the full NEP scale in this study was 3.48, which indicates a low endorsement of the NEP among the sample of Kosovo young people. The averages of the sub-dimensions varied between 3.08 (“Limits to growth”) and 3.73 (“Eco-crisis”). Like as others non-industrialized societies, young people from Kosovo tend to believe in the profound connection between humanity and nature, or there are no clear differences between pro-NEP and pro-DSP views. This study confirms the thesis that environmental worldviews differ across cultures. The mean value of the NEP Scale can be feasibly associated with various variables concerning general environmental attitudes. In order to discover the factors that create a pro-ecological orientation of young people in this country, additional researches are needed.

An Application of the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale in a Greek Context

Measuring and analyzing public perceptions of the environment are becoming core elements in promoting environmental sustainability, which is a key goal to be achieved. The New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEP) is used as a unidimensional measure of environmental attitudes as it is developed in order to measure the overall relationship between humans and the environment. A high NEP score is associated with high ecocentric orientation. This research aims to measure and analyze citizens’ NEP score in a Greek area. Overall, the statistical analysis verified the existence of the NEP subscales, indicated increased environmental awareness among the respondents and revealed that the respondents’ NEP score is correlated with the area of residence. Furthermore, the NEP score is correlated at a statistically significant level with respondents’ willingness to pay for renewable energy expansion.

Die NEP-Skala – hinter den (deutschen) Kulissen des Umweltbewusstseins

Zusammenfassung. Angesichts existentieller Umweltprobleme ist eine valide Messung von Umweltbewusstsein und -einstellungen nach wie vor ein zentrales Anliegen umwelt- und sozialpsychologischer Forschung. Es überrascht daher, dass für das seit Jahrzehnten international und disziplinübergreifend meistgenutzte Instrument, die New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEP-Skala) von Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig & Jones (2000) , bislang keine psychometrisch differenziert betrachtete deutsche Fassung vorliegt. Dabei wird die theoretische und empirische Verwendung der Originalskala durchaus kritisch diskutiert. Diese Lücke will der vorliegende Beitrag schließen: Es wird eine deutschsprachige Übersetzung der NEP-Skala vorgestellt, für die anhand einer universitären Stichprobe (N = 573) erste empirische Validitätshinweise vorgelegt werden. Dabei ergibt sich ein Faktormodell zweiter Ordnung mit 4 korrelierten Faktoren erster Ordnung, das theoretisch differenziert betrachtet wird. Eine Schmid-Leiman-Lösung weist auf die Möglichkeit einer verkürzten Skala hin, die direkt das höher angesiedelte Konstrukt „Umweltbewusstsein“ messen könnte. Die Ergebnisse unterstreichen die Notwendigkeit, stets die Dimensionalität der Skala methodisch angemessen zu überprüfen als auch, 20 Jahre nach der letzten Überarbeitung, inhaltliche Erweiterungen anzustoßen.

Impact of English and environmental content integrated learning on students' environmental attitudes

The aim of this article is to present the results from an empirical research which was conducted at the Faculty of Education, Trakia University, Bulgaria. The participants were bachelor degree students of primary school education with a foreign language. Their environmental attitude was tested with the help of The New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEPS) which was given to students before and after their training in the course “English Language and Environmental Education”. Their answers to the items in the NEPS were collected and analyzed to study the impact of integrating environmental educational content and English language teaching on the formation of their environmental views. The article outlines some of the most interesting findings and offers a discussion of the results in comparison with a control group and provides probable explanations.