Environmental Concern

Abstract

Past studies of environmental concern have measured the concept in many ways, often assuming that different types of measures are equivalent. In this study the degree to which different types of measures of environmental concern produce consistent results is examined. The measures are differentiated in terms of the substantive issues reflected in their items, and the theoretical conceptualization used in developing the items. A model is developed which hypothesizes two types of consistency: consistency in the intercorrelations among environmental measures, and consistency in the correlations between the environmental measures and various sociodemographic variables. The review of existing literature and the results of a study of Washington State residents (N = 806) show little support for the assumption that all environmental concern measures are equivalent.