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Testing the new ecological
paradigm scale: Turkish case
Nazmiye Erdoğan
Vocational School of Social Science
Baskent
University, Ankara, Turkey.
E-mail:
nerdogan@baskent.edu.tr.
Tel: 312
234 10 10.
Fax : 312 234 10 45.
Accepted 7 September, 2009 |
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This study was designed to test the reliability and
dimensionality of the revised New Environmental Paradigm (NEP)
scale constructed by Dunlap et al., (2000) and to examine
the extent to which university students in Turkey are
endorsing the NEP. A sample of 1295 undergraduate students
from four universities in Turkey was selected for the study.
Students’ worldviews were measured by the NEP scale which
consisted of 15 statements. A self-administered survey
questionnaire was used to collect the necessary data.
Findings from the study indicate that there is no widespread
support for the NEP: 56.0% of students hold pro-NEP views
while 24.9% embrace pro-DSP views and 19.1% have ambivalent
views. It was found that the NEP scale has low consistency
and four dimensions, thus, the NEP items should be taken
cautiously as a single (unidimensional) internally
consistent measuring device. It was concluded that the NEP
scale should be carefully constructed and evaluated
according to the historical and cultural context and
characteristics of the population under study.
Key words: Environmental worldviews, dominant social paradigm, new
ecological paradigm, ecology, environmental measurement.
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