The development of the Zero-Sum Beliefs between Nature and Humanity Scale

Abstract

Environmental decisions and policies are often depicted as having win-lose trade-offs with humanity's ability to thrive. These zero-sum beliefs about the relationship between nature and humanity (ZSB-NH) have significant implications for how individuals behave concerning our natural environment. However, no measure exists to operationalise this construct. The aim of this paper thus is to develop and validate a scale that can reliably measure people's zero-sum beliefs about the human-environment relationship. This research provides a theoretical approach to the measurement of ZSB-NH, in which three studies (total N = 1921) assess the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the scale. In Australian samples, our initial pool of items was tested and refined into a final 6-item scale, and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted twice in two subsequent studies to assess construct validity. The final scale demonstrated excellent internal reliability across all three studies, while convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity was also supported. Unexpectedly, zero-sum beliefs in human relationships were found to be unrelated to the ZSB-NH. The predictive utility of ZSB-NH was also demonstrated, where hierarchical multiple regression analyses show the ZSB-NH accounts for unique variance in human pro-social intentions and pro-environmental behaviours, with medium effect sizes. Overall, the ZSB-NH promises to be a useful empirical tool when concerned with understanding barriers to supporting human pro-social and pro-environmental actions.