“Why (Should) I Do Something for the Environment?” Profiles of Flemish Adolescents’ Motivation Toward the Environment

Wanda Sass, Jelle Boeve- de Pauw, Vincent Donche and Peter Van Petegem
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Wanda Sass: Research Unit Edbron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Jelle Boeve- de Pauw: Research Unit Edbron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Vincent Donche: Research Unit Edbron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Peter Van Petegem: Research Unit Edbron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: The Motivation Toward the Environment Scale (MTES), developed in Canada, measures people’s self-determined motivation for doing something for the environment. Answering the call by its original developers, this study further validated the MTES within a sample of 779 Dutch-speaking senior secondary school students, aged 17 to 19, in the north of Belgium. More specifically, reliability and construct validity of a Dutch translation of the MTES were verified. To this measure, confirmatory factor analysis was used, and the hypothesized simplex structure was tested through correlation analyses. Results confirmed the reliability of the MTES and a five-scale version of the MTES, excluding identified motivation, is introduced. This variable-centered approach was complemented by the adoption of a person-centered approach for identifying MTES profiles. Using cluster analysis, four meaningful MTES profiles emerged, with amotivation scoring medium to high in all but one. Theoretical implications of the findings and suggestions for interventions and further research are discussed.

Keywords: MTES; identified motivation; amotivation; self-determination theory; MTES profiles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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