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Adolescents’ attitudes towards nature and environment: Quantifying the 2-MEV model

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Abstract

This study identifies clearly the need for refinement of instrumentation in this area of environmental studies. A questionnaire battery designed to measure the factors Utilization (U) and Preservation (P) in the field of adolescent environmental perception was administered to 467 German secondary school pupils. Maximum likelihood factor analysis yielded the two hypothesized orthogonal factors U and P; we labelled this scale the 2-MEV model, i.e. the 2 factor Model of Environmental Values (sets of related attitudes). These analyses provide a basis for the construction of a questionnaire specifically designed to measure U and P. Confirmation of this factor structure was examined by comparing the factors extracted from two independent pseudorandom subsamples selected from the original sample.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Math & Science Education (ZMNU), Institute of Biology Didactics, University of Bayreuth, NW-1, University Campus, D-95447, Bayreuth, Germany

    Franz X. Bogner

  2. Leibniz Computing Centre, Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Barer Strasse 21, D-80333, Munich, Germany

    Michael Wiseman

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  1. Franz X. Bogner
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  2. Michael Wiseman
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Correspondence to Franz X. Bogner.

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Bogner, F.X., Wiseman, M. Adolescents’ attitudes towards nature and environment: Quantifying the 2-MEV model. Environmentalist 26, 247–254 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-006-8660-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-006-8660-9

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