A validity and reliability study of the Attitudes toward Sustainable Development scale

Figures & data

Table 1. Definitions and topics of the four constructs of ASD.

Constructs	UNESCO (1992, Section 36.3; and 2005, 5) definitions	Topics
Environment	The environment regards the development of an awareness of the resources, the fragility of the physical environment, and how human activity and decisions affect it, with a commitment to factoring environmental concerns into social and economic policy development	Natural resources, climate change, rural development, sustainable urbanization, disaster prevention and mitigation
Economy	The economy regards a sensitivity to limits, the potential of economic growth, and their impact on society and on the environment, with a commitment to assessing the personal and societal levels of consumption, out of concern for the environment and for social justice	Poverty reduction, corporate responsibility, market economy
Society	The society, as well as the democratic and participatory systems, provide an opportunity for the expression of opinions, the selection of governments, the forging of consensus and the resolution of differences	Human rights, gender equity, peace and human security, health, HIV/AIDS, governance, cultural diversity and inter-cultural understanding
Education	Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address environment and development issues. (…) It is also critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour consistent with sustainable development and for effective public participation in decision-making	Student-centred teaching methods, future-oriented thinking skills, higher order thinking skills, interdisciplinarity, linking local and global issues

Table 2. Mean (M), standard deviation (SD), and rotated factor matrix (exploratory factor analysis) for the ASD.

ASD items	M (SD)	Factors^a
		1	2	3	4
1) When people interfere with the environment, they often produce disastrous consequences	2.92 (.90)	.599
2) Environmental protection and people’s quality of life are directly linked	4.06 (.95)	.604
3) Biodiversity should be protected at the expense of industrial agricultural production	3.32 (1.04)	.678
4) Building development is less important than environmental protection	3.82 (1.03)	.780
5) Environmental protection is more important than industrial growth	3.66 (.94)	.752	.329
6) Government economic policies should increase sustainable production even if it means spending more money	3.80 (1.00)	.386	.554
7) People should sacrifices more to reduce economic differences between populations	3.77 (.98)		.747
8) Government economic policies should increases fair trade	3.85 (.91)		.647
9) Government economic policies should act if a country is wasting its natural resources	3.56 (1.03)		.327	.459
10) Reducing poverty and hunger in the world is more important than increasing the economic well-being of the industrialized countries	4.12 (.95)		.538		.350
11) Each country can do a lot to keep the peace in the world	4.08 (.96)				.543
12) The society should further promote equal opportunities for males and females	4.38 (.85)				.479
13) The contact between cultures is stimulating and enriching	4.37 (.88)		.619		.409
14) The society should provide free basic health services	4.52 (.78)				.710
15) The society should take responsibility for the welfare of individuals and families	4.16 (.87)				.651
16) Teachers in college should use student-centred teaching methods	3.72 (.97)			.615
17) Teachers in college should promote future-oriented thinking in addition to historical knowledge	4.10 (.88)			.704
18) Teachers in college should promote interdisciplinarity between subjects	4.31 (.76)		.341	.589	.371
19) Teachers in college should promote the connection between local and global issues	4.12 (.82)		.396	.531	.304
20) Teachers in college should promote critical thinking rather than lecturing	4.35 (.86)			.667

^a Factors: 1 environment; 2 economy; 3 education; 4 society. (N = 216).

Table 3. Descriptive statistics mean (M) and standard deviation (SD), eigenvalue, percentage of variance, Cronbach’s alpha (reliability).

ASD factors	M (SD) (N = 216)	Eigenvalue (N = 216)	%Variance (N = 216)	Cronbach’s α (N = 484)
1. Environment	3.56 (.70)	5.342	14.734	.743
2. Economy	3.82 (.67)	2.582	13.376	.737
3. Education	4.12 (.61)	1.273	12.406	.757
4. Society	4.30 (.56)	1.139	11.167	.660
Total	3.95 (.46)		51.683	.854

Table 4. Goodness of fit of CFA of ASD (N = 268) and multi-group invariance (MGI) configural and metric of pre- (N = 97) and post-test (N = 97) groups.

Model	N	χ^2(df)	RMSEA	SRMR	GFI	AGFI	CFI	NNFI	IFI
CFA	268	238.82(164)	.041	.053	.92	.89	.97	.97	.97
MGI configural	97	418.23(328)	.054				.94	.93	.94
Pre	97			.086	.83	.79
Post	97			.091	.81	.76
MGI metrical	97	425.59(348)	.048				.94	0.94	.94
Pre	97			.094	.83	.79
Post	97			.091	.81	.76

Figure 1. Confirmatory factor analysis model of the ASD (N = 268).

Table

	1	2	3	4	5
	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
1) When people interfere with the environment, they often produce disastrous consequences	1	2	3	4	5
2) Environmental protection and people’s quality of life are directly linked	1	2	3	4	5
3) Biodiversity should be protected at the expense of industrial agricultural production	1	2	3	4	5
4) Building development is less important than environmental protection	1	2	3	4	5
5) Environmental protection is more important than industrial growth	1	2	3	4	5
6) Government economic policies should increase sustainable production even if it means spending more money	1	2	3	4	5
7) People should sacrifice more to reduce economic differences between populations	1	2	3	4	5
8) Government economic policies should increases fair trade	1	2	3	4	5
9) Government economic policies should act if a country is wasting its natural resources	1	2	3	4	5
10) Reducing poverty and hunger in the world is more important than increasing the economic well-being of the industrialized countries	1	2	3	4	5
11) Each country can do a lot to keep the peace in the world	1	2	3	4	5
12) The society should further promote equal opportunities for males and females	1	2	3	4	5
13) The contact between cultures is stimulating and enriching	1	2	3	4	5
14) The society should provide free basic health services	1	2	3	4	5
15) The society should take responsibility for the welfare of individuals and families	1	2	3	4	5
16) Teachers in college should use student-centred teaching methods	1	2	3	4	5
17) Teachers in college should promote future-oriented thinking in addition to historical knowledge	1	2	3	4	5
18) Teachers in college should promote interdisciplinarity between subjects	1	2	3	4	5
19) Teachers in college should promote the connection between local and global issues	1	2	3	4	5
20) Teachers in college should promote critical thinking rather than lecturing	1	2	3	4	5

UNESCO. 1992. Agenda 21. “Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training (Chapter 36).” Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, June 3–14.

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UNESCO. 2005. United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: Draft International Implementation Scheme. Paris: UNESCO.

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