Teachers’ and Student Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Nature and the Environment—A Comparative Study Between Sweden and France

Figures & data

Table 1. Questions selected measuring attitudes towards nature and the environment.

Item	Dimension
A1: We must set aside areas to protect endangered species.	P
A4: Nature is always able to restore itself.	U
A5: If an intensive chicken farm were to be created near where you live, you would be against this because it may pollute the groundwater.	P
A7: Humans will die out if we don’t live in harmony with nature.	P
A11: Industrial smoke from chimneys makes me angry.	P
A16: Our planet has unlimited natural resources.	U
A17: Society will continue to solve even the biggest environmental problems.	U
A18: Human beings are more important than other living beings.	U
A22: I enjoy trips to the countryside.	P
A23: We need to clear forests to increase agricultural areas.	U
A32: Humans have the right to change nature as they see fit.	U
A40: It is interesting to know what kinds of animals live in ponds or rivers.	P
A50: All contemporary plant species should be preserved because they may help in the discovery of new medicines.	P
A54: Only plants and animals of economic importance need to be protected.	U

Note: Preservation/ecocentric (=P), Utilization/anthropocentric (=U). The items below in English are from the original questionnaire.

Figure 1. PCA analysis showing the relationship between the two main Principal Components and the 14 items concerning Environmental attitudes. The arrows reflect the items as labelled in Table 1. The clear separation of the items into two groups along the x-axis (D1) supports the characterization of the items as pertaining to either Utilization (to the left) or Preservation (to the right).

Figure 2. Overall differences between the environmental attitudes in Sweden and France—Between-class analyses. The difference between Swedish and French samples is significant (p < 0.001; Monte-Carlo test).

Table 2. Answers to the seven selected items relating to a preservation (ecocentric) attitude.

Item	Country	“Agree or somewhat agree” (%)	“Don’t agree or somewhat disagree” (%)	Differences between Sweden and France. Significant differences (S). Not significant (NS)
A1: We must set aside areas to protect endangered species. (P)	Sweden	95	5	NS
	France	97	3
A5: If an intensive chicken farm were to be created near where you live, you would be against this because it may pollute the groundwater. (P)	Sweden	57	43	NS
	France	60	40
A7: Humans will die out if we don’t live in harmony with nature. (P)	Sweden	81	19	NS
	France	80	20
A11: Industrial smoke from chimneys makes me angry. (P)	Sweden	49	51	S**
	France	69	31
A22: I enjoy trips to the countryside. (P)	Sweden	98	2	NS
	France	97	3
A40: It is interesting to know what kinds of animals live in ponds or rivers. (P)	Sweden	85	15	S**
	France	95	5
A50: All contemporary plant species should be preserved because they may help in the discovery of new medicines. (P)	Sweden	84	16	S**
	France	93	7

Note: Percentage for each country and the results of the Pearson’s chi-squared tests (**p < 0.001, *p < 0.01). The instruction was: “Indicate to what point you agree with the following statements by ticking only one box between ‘I agree’ and ‘I don’t agree’ for EACH of the following statements”. The items where significant differences were found between the two countries are written in bold. (Agree = preservation/ecocentric).

Table 3. Answers to the seven selected items relating to a utilization (anthropocentric) attitude.

Item	Country	“Agree or somewhat agree”	“Don’t agree or somewhat disagree”	Differences between Sweden and France. Significant differences (S). Not significant (NS).
A4: Nature is always able to restore itself. (U)	Sweden	13	87	S** (French agree to a larger extent)
	France	28	72
A16: Our planet has unlimited natural resources. (U)	Sweden	6	94	NS
	France	6	94
A17: Society will continue to solve even the biggest environmental problems. (U)	Sweden	35	65	S**
	France	26	74
A18: Human beings are more important than other living beings. (U)	Sweden	31	69	S**
	France	21	79
A23: We need to clear forests to increase agricultural areas. (U)	Sweden	16	84	S**
	France	2	98
A32: Humans have the right to change nature as they see fit. (U)	Sweden	7	93	S**
	France	3	97
A54: Only plants and animals of economic importance need to be protected. (U)	Sweden	2	98	NS
	France	1	99

Note: Percentage for each country and the results of the Pearson’s chi-squared tests (**p < 0.001, *p < 0.01). The instruction was: “Indicate to what point you agree with the following statements by ticking only one box between ‘I agree’ and ‘I don’t agree’ for EACH of the following statements”. The items where significant differences were found between the two countries are written in bold. (Agree = utilization/anthropocentric).