Modified Two Major Environmental Values scale for measuring Chinese children’s environmental attitudes

Abstract

The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale is used worldwide to predict people’s environmental worldviews. However, some researchers criticize its unidimensional structure and limited ability to predict pro-environmental behavior (PEB). The Two Major Environmental Values (2-MEV) scale, which considers environmental attitudes in two dimensions—preservation and utilization—may overcome these deficiencies. To examine if the 2-MEV exceeds the NEP scale in predictability of people’s environmental attitudes in China and its applicability to Chinese children, we modified the 2-MEV scale in Chinese and used it to question 490 students (aged 9–12) in China. The results show that the modified version demonstrated good reliability and internal consistency. Furthermore, the 2-MEV demonstrated significantly a higher predictive power of PEB than the NEP. We thus contend the 2-MEV is a promising measurement for gauging Chinese children’s environmental attitudes. The application of the 2-MEV in different contexts and the improvement of NEP was discussed.

Keywords:

• Environmental attitudes
• 2-MEV
• NEP
• children
• pro-environmental behavior

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wanlu Liu

Wanlu Liu earned a master’s degree in environmental education from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research interest is how informal education integrated with formal education enhances students’ environmental attitudes and behavior.

Jin Chen

Jin Chen is a professor and the director of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, principal investigator of Ecology and Evolution of Plant-Animal Interaction (EEPAI). His research interests are frugivore–plant interactions and environmental education. He focuses on fundamental ecological research and practical activities of links between biological and social problems, and makes flora conservation and education more effective by implementing multidisciplinary methods.