Dimensionality of the New Ecological Paradigm: Issues of Factor Structure and Measurement

Dunlap and colleagues' New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale is widely used and, thus, merits testing to determine whether it should be treated as one scale, a set of independent scales, or a set of correlated subscales. The authors test for all three possibilities using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and find that a second-order factor structure with five interrelated dimensions provides a better fit for the data than a single factor structure or five independent factors structure. Results show that, as Dunlap originally assumed, the NEP is best represented as correlated scales involving five facets. The authors recommend that future research with the NEP use CFA within a structural equation modeling approach to accurately represent the five interrelated facets structure, and if CFA is unavailable, treating the scale as five correlated subscales is preferred over treating the NEP as a single score reflecting environmental concern.