Measuring Pro-Environmental Behavior: Convergent Validity, Internal Consistency, and Respondent Experience of Existing Instruments

Berre Deltomme (), Karen Gorissen and Bert Weijters
Additional contact information
Berre Deltomme: Department of Work, Organization, and Society, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan, 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Karen Gorissen: School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Bert Weijters: Department of Work, Organization, and Society, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan, 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 19, 1-26

Abstract: The influence of human behavior on climate change and environmental decline is receiving increased attention; and therefore, it has led to an increase in studies that measure pro-environmental behavior (PEB) as a predictor, a covariate, or an outcome variable. To this end, (validated) self-report scales have traditionally been the main measurement tool, but lately, several experimental instruments have also been developed to measure PEB. Measurement instruments that are considered to measure the same construct should provide consistent results, i.e., they should show high convergent validity. However, it is not clear whether substitute measures for PEB show this necessary convergent validity and how they compare to each other in terms of internal consistency and respondent experience. To address this, we investigated thirteen validated self-report scales and three experimental tasks on their psychometric qualities (i.e., validity and internal consistency) and respondent experience. Therefore, we assigned 340 participants and randomly administered half of the instruments to each of them. The results show that, in general, convergent validity is lacking, which shows that the measurement instruments cannot be considered equivalent. As for respondent experience, the experimental tasks are most time-consuming, are perceived as most fatiguing, and are most sensitive to multitasking. The self-report scales are most sensitive to socially desirable responding and acquiescence bias. Our insights cater to researchers in environmental psychology and sustainability seeking to employ validated self-report scales or behavioral tasks in measuring PEB.

Keywords: pro-environmental behavior; measurement; convergent validity; internal consistency; respondent experience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14484/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/19/14484/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14484-:d:1253631

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().