Environmental Paradigm Scale Research Articles

Perceptions of Environmental Sustainability and Luxury: Influences on Organic Food Buying Behavior among Millennials and Generation Z in Greece

<p>The generational cohorts known as Millennials and Generation Z exhibit distinct behaviors and attitudes, differing significantly from older generations in various aspects including environmental perceptions and purchasing behaviors. Notably, organic foods are sometimes associated with luxury, as highlighted in existing literature. This study aims to explore how Greek Millennial and Gen Z consumers perceive the concept of luxury in relation to organic food products and how their views on environmental sustainability influence both their perceptions and purchasing behaviors. A structured questionnaire served as the research tool, utilizing the New Environmental Paradigm scale to assess respondents’ views on environmental sustainability. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including tests for mean values, correlation coefficients, and regression models. The findings indicate that consumers’ perceptions of environmental sustainability positively impact their willingness to purchase organic foods. Additionally, there are noticeable differences between Millennial and Gen Z consumers in their perceptions of organic foods, and purchasing luxury foods positively correlates with the propensity to buy organic products. The findings of this research can be used by manufacturers and retailers in food sector.</p>

How environmental perception affects players’ in-game behaviors? Towards developing games in compliance with sustainable development goals

Several research studies have pointed out that players’ in-game behaviors might be affected by different individual differences, such as player type, personality, etc. However, limited information is found about whether players’ environmental perceptions might impact their in-game behaviors towards the environment while playing. To address this research gap, this study analyzes the in-game behaviors data of 640 players within Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH), as well as their environmental perceptions based on the revised New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale, using open data sourced and adapted from Vuong et al. [53] from the Science Data Bank repository. The obtained results revealed that players’ environmental perceptions might impact their in-game behaviors, however this is not always true; the obtained results also revealed that players might behave within the game against their beliefs and perceptions just to level-up in the game. For instance, anti-anthropocentrism players, who are environment-caring, are found to harm the nature within the game. The findings of this study can help to understand how people with different environmental perceptions might behave, hence promoting ecological behaviors. Additionally, they can also help to reveal how to design games that can emphasize environment-friendly behaviors, hence helping to achieve the sustainable development goals of United Nations (UN).

University students’ environmental world views based on the new environmental paradigm (NEP) scale: a case study from Kosovo

University students’ environmental world views based on the new environmental paradigm (NEP) scale: a case study from Kosovo

Review of personal environmental indicators

Indicators are used in almost every scientific field to quantify and/or record and/or follow the evolution of a specific parameter. Environmental indicators are related to the environment quality and are specifically used to monitor the quality of the environment and to measure the environmental performance. They can be categorized into specific, composite and personal environmental indicators. A review of the personal environmental indicators used in the literature are presented here. Personal environmental indicators include indicators related to the attitudes and behaviours of citizens towards environmental issues. The main personal environmental indicators reported in the literature are: the New Environmental Paradigm Scale, the Environmental Attitude Inventory, the General Ecological Behavior Scale, the Motivation Toward the Environment Scale, the Connectedness to Nature Scale, the Ecocentric Scale and the Anthropocentric Scale.

The Connotation and Realization Path of Ecological Civilization Education in Chinese Universities under the Background of Mobile Internet

The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China creatively clarified the general pattern of socialist construction as “five-in-one,” namely, the construction of economy, politics, culture, society, and ecological civilization and pointed out that the construction of ecological civilization should lead and integrate into socialism. This marks that China has entered a new era of ecological civilization and started the great historical journey of building a beautiful China. Ecological civilization education in colleges and universities is an important content and foundation of ecological civilization construction, which can provide sufficient human resources and intellectual preparation for ecological civilization construction, promote the popularization of ecological civilization concept in society, and promote the ecological transformation of economic and social development. Therefore, the education of ecological civilization in colleges and universities is not only the meaning of the integration of ecological civilization into higher education but also an initiative to implement the national strategy, and it is also a realistic demand for realizing the fundamental task of morality and cultivation of people in higher education. This research uses mobile Internet technology to study the path of ecological civilization education in Chinese colleges and universities mainly using the questionnaire survey method, on the basis of multiple stratified sampling, with the help of the revised Chinese New Environmental Paradigm Scale (Chinese New Environmental Paradigm Scale) to collect data.

A meta-analysis of temporal shifts in environmental concern between 1994 and 2017: An examination of the new environmental paradigm

Public environmental concern is important for social transformations to sustainability . Previous findings regarding the temporal trend of environmental concern yielded inconsistent results. Their methodological divergence, however, prevented further result integration or moderation analyses. This cross-temporal meta-analysis used the New Environmental Paradigm of human thinking (reflecting the perceived relationship between humans and the environment) as an indicator of environmental concern to examine its temporal trend and the factors moderating this trend. We analyzed 184 independent study samples using the original or revised New Environmental Paradigm Scale ( n = 73,645 participants) from 47 countries/regions between 1994 and 2017. Results showed that the New Environmental Paradigm of thinking decreased over time. No reliable evidence supported that the study sample characteristics (i.e., student vs. nonstudent sample type, sample mean age, and gender ratio) or societal characteristics (i.e., geographical location, societal education, and societal wealth) moderated the declining trend. Despite limitations of including only convenience samples in the analysis, the findings imply a global decreasing trend of environmental concern. The findings highlight the urgent need for new, effective campaigns or interventions to reverse this trend. • We conducted a cross-temporal meta-analysis using 184 convenience samples. • Environmental concern, measured by the New Environmental Paradigm, decreased. • The decrease in environmental concern remained after controlling for confounders. • No significant moderator was found to influence the declining trend.

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

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.

Mapping citizens' attitudes towards soil ecosystem services: A case study from New South Wales, Australia.

Soils deliver multiple ecosystem services (ES) that are essential for life on Earth, such as – among others - water and climate regulation, nutrient cycling, and biomass production. Understanding society's perception of the benefits provided by soils can provide valuable insights regarding the human-nature relation. However, despite soil's many contributions to human well-being, little is known about the social aspects of the ecosystem and the way society feels connected to it. Here, we contribute to addressing this issue by investigating the attitudes and perceptions of citizens of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, towards soil ES through the use of items drawn from the Norm Activation Model (NAM) and The New Environmental Paradigm scale (NEP). We found that citizens are highly concerned about environmental issues and have strong moral obligation values to contribute to soil conservation, which suggests high connectivity between citizens and soil. We explored the spatial distribution of the attitudes and found that people living in proximity to each other perceive similar benefits from the ecosystem and exhibit similar trends of attitudinal patterns. We also identified that people's connectivity to soil might depend on the level of exposure to agricultural activities and socioeconomic characteristics. Our findings contribute to the connectivity dimension of the Soil Security framework, constitute a step further to assess and map soil from a social perspective, and provide crucial information for governments and policy-makers to develop policies that promote sustainable use of soils.

Application of the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale in Greece

Researchers from various fields have studied in recent years the environmental attitudes of people and how environmental attitudes affect their behavior. There are several well-established environmental behavior measures and, among them, the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale is one used to measure the environmental concern of citizens. This study investigates the application of the NEP scale in Greece. The survey was conducted in November 2020 in Greek cities. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Totally, 1,689 valid questionnaires were analysed, using simple descriptive statistics and chi-square test. The results show that the respondents believe that the limit of the number of people that the earth can support is approaching and that humans are severely abusing the environment. In addition, the respondents believe that humans are still subject to the laws of nature, and also that the fragility of nature’s balance is very delicate and easily upset. Also, the respondents declare that if things continue on their present course, a major ecological catastrophe will occur in the near future. Finally, Greek citizens show a high environmental concern, both for the current state of nature and for the future one, while those living outside Athens, the capital of Greece, are more environmentally sensitive.

Closing the Gap Between Urban Planning and Urban Ecology: A South African Perspective

Ecological considerations should be an integral part of the decision-making processes of urban planners. Specifically, ecological aspects used in urban ecology, such as green infrastructure and ecosystem services, are substantiated by literature as strategies for improving quality of life, human health, and well-being. Studies dealing with such concepts in the Global South recently gained interest; however, these lack empirical evidence on the integration thereof in mainstream South African urban planning practice. This article conducts a preliminary investigation into the knowledge of ecological aspects of a sample of South African urban planners and their willingness to implement ecological aspects in urban planning practice. The new environmental paradigm scale is employed to determine the environmental worldview (ecocentric or anthropocentric) among respondent and how this relates to their knowledge of ecological aspects. The initial research sample consisted of a total of 283 questionnaires distributed. Although findings of this article are based on a low response rate (15%) of 42 documented responses, it did not affect the validity of the data collected in this context. The initial findings indicated that the environmental worldview of the sample of planners is only one factor influencing their perspective on incorporating ecological considerations. Low to moderate knowledge and awareness regarding ecological aspects such as ecosystem services, green infrastructure, and multi-functionality are argued to be main factors preventing integration in urban planning practice. Findings emphasize the need for context-based implementation strategies and broad recommendations are made for the planning profession as a point of departure to introduce or ingrain ecological considerations.

Assessing Environmental Attitudes and Cognitive Achievement within 9 Years of Informal Earth Education

Given the multitude of attitude scales, we examined the relationship between the 2-Major Environmental Values model (2-MEV) and the New Environmental Paradigm scale (NEP) based on a 6585 child sample over a 9-year period. The students participated in a three-day outdoor earth education program at field centers in three different US states (Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana). We further investigated the scales’ sensitivity to program effects, relating cognitive achievement and attitude with respect to a pro-environmental indicator of behavior (Y key). The NEP and Preservation correlated highly, while the subscales Utilization and Preservation showed a strong inverse relationship. Based on further reliability and validity scores, and in line with the literature, this pointed to a unidimensional Preservation of Nature scale as a concise attitude measurement. In structural equation modelling, Preservation related to knowledge gains and the Y key, and effects from Preservation on knowledge held true for all three states. This suggests Preservation as one factor influencing cognitive achievement and environmentally conscious performance. Regarding program effects, the Earthkeepers program seemed to induce pro-environmental shifts based on knowledge gains and attitude changes (Preservation increasing and Utilization decreasing). Pro-environmental shifts were most prominent for those who received the Y key.

Theoretical Exploration of the New Environmental Paradigm Scale in China

The new environmental paradigm (NEP) scale is a widely used instrument to measure human concern for the environment. Since its introduction in China in 2003, Chinese scholars have begun to effectively validate and evaluate its reliability, validity, dimensionality, and applicability in the country. They have made corresponding revisions and adjustments to develop an environmental concern measurement tool with Chinese characteristics. Based on the revised version of the NEP scale’s Chinese translation, this paper carries out a comprehensive review of the version revision, validation and evaluation, and practical application. This provides a theoretical basis for developing an environmental concern scale applicable to Chinese characteristics and is of great significance for developing the Chinese version of the NEP scale.

Determinants of willingness to pay to stay at a green lodging facility

• Green initiatives are attracting increasing attention among tourism stakeholders. • This study focused on willingness to pay (WTP) a higher rate to stay at a green hotel. • A survey of 388 travellers in Michigan, USA, was conducted. • A positive relationship between environmental concern and WTP was found. • Marketing and management implications are considered. The adoption of green initiatives is attracting increasing attention among tourism providers and researchers. One important dimension of travellers’ environmental concern is their willingness to pay higher rates for green travel products. This study determines the association between pro-environmental attitudes and beliefs, and willingness to pay a higher room rate at a green lodging facility. A survey of 388 travellers in Michigan, USA, revealed a positive relationship between environmental concern (measured using the New Environmental Paradigm scale) and willingness to pay for a green hotel room. Income was the only one of a series of socioeconomic, demographic and travel pattern variables to reach statistical significance. Additional evidence regarding consumer attitudes towards and concomitant behaviours with respect to travel and the environment is vital to the broader consideration of the sustainability of the tourism and hospitality sectors. Understanding of willingness to pay for green practices has important marketing and management implications.

Environmental Psychology Approach: Understanding Tourist’s Intention to Reducing Food Waste in Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia

Bali is one of the destinations with the highest tourist visiting in Indonesia. One concern is food waste produced by tourists during the holiday. Most of the food waste comes from consumers level. Thus, needed to understand what factors influence of tourist’s intention to reduce food waste during the holiday. This study aims to understand tourist behavioural intention of reducing food waste during the holiday. The conceptual model was built based on the new environmental paradigm scale and environmental psychology approach. There are six hypotheses designed through environmental attitude, feeling personal responsibility, knowledge and intention to reduce food waste during vocation. Correlation and multiple regression were chosen to analyse the data. Environmental attitude did not have a direct association of tourist’s intention to reduce food waste (p-value=.23). Meanwhile, feeling personal responsibility and knowledge to reduce food waste has a significant relationship with the outcome (p-value=.001). In the environmental attitude, both local and foreign tourists are not profoundly correlated with the understanding of tourist’s intention to reduce food waste during the holiday. Overall, the study concludes that tourists can figure out the intention of reducing food waste, even though they do not concern about general environmental attitude.

(Dis)agreement over what? The challenge of quantifying environmental worldviews

Ever since environmentalism emerged as a social movement, researchers have been trying to quantify the attitudes underlying environmental concern. From the 1970s through the early 2000s, the practice of measuring environmental attitudes was dominated by the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale, which assesses only a narrow dimension of environmental thought. While the NEP remains in use, especially internationally, other scales have since been introduced in part to make up for its methodological and theoretical issues. Survey research has also evolved since the time the NEP was debuted, employing increasingly sophisticated technologies and mixed methodologies. Of what use are NEP-type attitude surveys in the context of contemporary environmental thought and politics? This paper chronicles the history of the quantification of environmentalism, focusing on the NEP and discussing its merits and drawbacks. It proceeds to evaluate alternative metrics, paying special attention to the social context in which they emerged. It concludes by offering ways in which researchers can embrace the fluidity of environmental concern, and think creatively more about what methodologies they might employ to capture it in the future.

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

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.

Environmental worldviews of Serbian and Macedonian school students

AbstractThe objectives of this study were to assess the dimensionality of the revised New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale in Serbian and Macedonian culture, and to use it to explore the environmental worldviews of young people in Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia. A total of 850 pupils aged between 13 and 15 from 11 schools (5 elementary schools and 6 secondary schools) took part in this research. The dataset obtained from the scale was analysed via the principal component analysis factor extraction method, and a varimax rotation was applied. This study found all items load on four dimensions: Balance of Nature, Humans over Nature, Limits to Growth and Environmental Philosophy. Differences between subgroups occur in three out of four dimensions. The students’ environmental worldviews were determined by providing the frequency distribution of their responses. Both subgroups in the Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia are (slightly) environmentally conscious, with an ecological view of the environment. Macedonian school students have a slightly higher NEP score than their peers in Serbia, indicating more environmentally protective attitudes among them. The participants did not see the two paradigms as mutually exclusive, as do members of some industrialised societies. The rejection of the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP) by the NEP is a phenomenon that could well only be present in Western societies, whereas in less industrialised societies, the NEP and DSP could coexist in a comprehensive environmental view. With minor alterations such as word substitutions to facilitate easy comprehension of items by the respondents, the revised NEP scale will show more universal applicability outside developed communities.

Environmental Worldview: A Case Study of Young People from Kosovo

Abstract 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.

Research on low-carbon behavioural identity with the New Environmental Paradigm Scale

The environmental pollution problem has led to a lot of research and discussion on low-carbon strategies. It is our responsibility to notify the environmental attitude and behaviour so that the environmental pollution problem might be reduced dramatically. Shanghai has advocated the concept of energy-saving and low-carbon life since 2009. Therefore, this study tries to understand the current problem of environmental pollution, the degree of public awareness and recognition of low-carbon behaviours. In this study, the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale was cited as the survey item of environmental attitude. Meanwhile, according to the low-carbon strategy advocated at present, the recognition scale of low-carbon behaviours was sorted out by combining the analysis of Shanghai’s urban environment status and the daily life behaviours of citizens. This study adopts the form of network questionnaire to investigate, recover and analyze (N=219). According to the NEP scale score, the sample was divided into three attitude groups as high, medium and low. According to the analysis of one-way ANOVA, the recognition of different attitude groups on low-carbon strategy related behaviours was significantly different.

Ideas to action: environmental beliefs, behaviors, and support for environmental policies

This study uses data from two independent surveys of three communities in Colorado and Wyoming in 1997 and 2012 and examines how environmental attitudes and beliefs (as measured by the New Environmental Paradigm Scale) are related to support for a range of environmental policies and self-reported environmental actions. Results of structural equation modeling show that policy support mediates the influences of the NEP on environmental action, compatible with the value-belief-norm theory. In addition, this study finds a weaker relationship between policy support and environmental action in 2012 than 1997, indicating that environmental beliefs play an increasingly weaker role over time in the decision of individuals to engage in environmental actions. Community comparisons suggest that recycling infrastructure may be a significant facilitator for environmental actions.