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Measuring Environmental Worldviews: Investigating the Dimensionality of the New Environmental Paradigm Scale for Children in a Large Central European Sample

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  • Iván Zsolt Berze

    (Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1064 Budapest, Hungary
    Institute of People–Environment Transaction, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1075 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Attila Varga

    (Institute of People–Environment Transaction, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1075 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Ferenc Mónus

    (Institute of Psychology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary)

  • Katalin Néder

    (PontVelem Nonprofit Ltd., 2092 Budakeszi, Hungary)

  • Andrea Dúll

    (Institute of People–Environment Transaction, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1075 Budapest, Hungary
    Department of Sociology and Communication, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 1111 Budapest, Hungary)

Abstract

A complex research program linked to the national Sustainability Thematic Week (STW) educational program was launched in 2020 to examine Hungarian primary and secondary school students’ environmental attitudes, behaviors, and awareness. The Hungarian newly developed version of the New Ecological Paradigm Scale for Children was used in a large sample ( N = 9396). The results of a set of factor analyses suggested that the NEP Scale for Children cannot be considered unidimensional. We found three distinct and valid factors (Questioning of Human Intervention, Rights of Nature, and Eco-Crisis) with significant associations, having partially different directions, with gender, age, pro-environmental behavior, and economic-technical aspects of environmental worldviews, providing thus new evidence for the highly complex structural characteristics of pro-environmental attitudes and worldviews. Our results might contribute to solving the issues, misunderstandings, and challenges that are related to the dimensionality of the NEP Scale and, even after decades of use, make the comparison of international research difficult.

Suggested Citation

  • Iván Zsolt Berze & Attila Varga & Ferenc Mónus & Katalin Néder & Andrea Dúll, 2022. "Measuring Environmental Worldviews: Investigating the Dimensionality of the New Environmental Paradigm Scale for Children in a Large Central European Sample," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4595-:d:792053
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bethany Woodworth & Michelle Steen-Adams & Prashant Mittal, 2011. "Role of an environmental studies course on the formation of environmental worldviews: a case study of a core curriculum requirement using the NEP Scale," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 1(2), pages 126-137, June.
    2. Efrat Eilam & Tamar Trop, 2012. "Environmental Attitudes and Environmental Behavior—Which Is the Horse and Which Is the Cart?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(9), pages 1-37, September.
    3. Stamatios Ntanos & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Michalis Skordoulis & Miltiadis Chalikias & Garyfallos Arabatzis, 2019. "An Application of the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale in a Greek Context," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
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