Attitudes and behavioral intentions to protect the environment: How consistent is the structure of environmental concern in cross-national comparison?

Abstract

This article deals with the consistency of the attitudinal structure of environmental concern in cross-national comparison using structural equation models (SEM) with International Social Survey Program (ISSP) 2010 data. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis is used to explore measurement invariance and to test the cross-national consistency of the relationship between environmental attitudes and the willingness to sacrifice for environmental protection (which can be interpreted as a behavioral intention). Both are referred to as being dimensions of environmental concern. Multilevel SEM is conducted to explain country differences regarding levels of consistency between the two dimensions of environmental concern. The results of the multiple group confirmatory factor analysis show that it is possible to reach metric measurement invariance for both dimensions of environmental concern. Further, the consistency (i.e., the strength of statistical association) between these two dimensions differs considerably throughout the world. Multilevel SEM analysis shows that the consistency is associated with national wealth; that is, the higher the national wealth, the stronger the relationship between the two dimensions of environmental concern. Thus, in poor countries, there is only a weak link between environmental attitudes and behavioral intentions to protect the environment. In contrast, in wealthy countries, environmental attitudes and environmental behavioral intentions form a highly consistent cluster of environmental concern.