Application of the New Environmental Paradigm to Greece: A critical case study

Abstract

One of the most recognized measures of an environmental belief system is the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale. This consists of fifteen items and has five sub-scales (limits to growth, antianthropocentrism, the fragility of nature’s balance, rejection of exemptionalism, and the possibility of an eco-crisis). The NEP scale has been used in many countries by different groups of people for measuring environmental attitudes, beliefs and worldviews. Researchers have expressed their doubts about the validity of the NEP scale despite the fact that many studies have been carried out to explore them. Thus, there are valid reasons to further test the applicability and validity of the NEP. This study, therefore, seeks to refine and validate the NEP scale using Greek’s attitudes as a case study. With this objective in mind, data were collected using self-administered structured questionnaire from 1000 respondents from different Greek cities. The approach consists of applied methodological research including the use of principal component and cluster analyses together with logistic regression. Significant relationships are found between NEP scale factors and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents.