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Environmental organizations have become increasingly interested in identifying groups in the general population that understand scientific issues in an internally cohesive way. However segmenting these groups empirically is contingent on employing metrics with high levels of reliability and validity, and many existing metrics are dated or make assu...
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... 3 was closest to the Pragmatic Reformer cluster center (0.566). This respondent's elements clustered into three categories, each with two elements (see Figure 1). "Biodiversity conser- vation" and "organic farming" (89% matching) were seen as space intensive, costly for consumers, and needing collective effort to be enacted. ...
Context 2
... 3 was closest to the Pragmatic Reformer cluster center (0.566). This respondent's elements clustered into three categories, each with two elements (see Figure 1). "Biodiversity conservation" and "organic farming" (89% matching) were seen as space intensive, costly for consumers, and needing collective effort to be enacted. ...
Citations
... Psychological types serve as a way of understanding and distinguishing between individuals (Doty & Glick, 1994;McKinney, 1969). Types have the potential to explain what drives an individual and their environmental beliefs (Bernstein & Szuster, 2018;MacDonald et al., 2019;Po skus & Zukauskien_ e, 2017). Types identify common characteristics among individuals and therefore reduce complexity in the empirical realm by using the min-max rule to construct a minimum number of types, where each demonstrates a maximum amount of homogeneity (Doty & Glick, 1994). ...
... Identifying types and their psychological composition acknowledges the role that human multidimensionality plays in addressing the environmental challenges (Doty & Glick, 1994). Research identifies the difference between types related to the biosphere (Bernstein & Szuster, 2018;de Groot & van den Born, 2003), climate change (Hall et al., 2018;Leiserowitz et al., 2009;Poortinga & Darnton, 2016), and behavior (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2008;MacDonald et al., 2019), but these approaches are incomplete (Ingulli & Lindbloom, 2013). They lack psychoanalytical interpretations, were conducted only in developed countries, used limited variables and singular methods, and typically exclude environmental affect and individual narratives. ...
... The types included the Individualistic where nature is experienced as benevolent and full of potential, Egalitarian that perceived nature is fragile, Hierarchical in which nature is perverse/tolerant, and Fatalistic that experienced nature as unpredictable ( Douglas and Wildavsky, 1982 ;Oltedal et al., 2004 ). Since then, the field of type psychology has expanded rapidly with more individualised understandings of the human-nature nexus that has included variables such as beliefs, values, worldviews, attitudes, religion, etc. (e.g., Defra, 2008 ;Leiserowitz et al., 2009 ;Poortinga and Darnton, 2016 ;Bernstein and Szuster, 2018 ;MacDonald et al., 2019 ). The study by Leiserowitz et al. (2009) explored the human-nature nexus by looking at beliefs about global warming, associated risk perceptions, behavior, traits, relationship to information and policy. ...
... They identified six types namely the: Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive ( Leiserowitz et al., 2009 ). Other studies have used type psychology to explain climate change beliefs ( Hall et al., 2018 ), beliefs about biodiversity and ecosystems ( Buijs et al., 2008), proenvironmental behavior ( MacDonald et al., 2019, relationships with animals ( Teel and Manfredo, 2010 ), and the relationship between individuals and the natural environment ( Bernstein and Szuster, 2018 ). Type research could provide a deeper understanding of different individual characteristics that influence how they perceive risk and react to mortality threats. ...
COVID-19 is a global event that has impacted every individual on earth in some way and can be viewed as a mortality salience trigger. Although there were reports of increased nature exposure across the world, research is needed to understand whether the pandemic event impacted the underlying psychology of the human-nature nexus. Given the likelihood of pandemics and environmental challenges increasing in frequency in the future, there is a need for a deeper understanding of how pandemics impact individuals’ relationship with the natural environment in South Africa. To achieve this, the study applied psychological types (grouping individuals based on homogeneity) to explore potential shifts as human nature is neither fixed, nor universal. The study asked: Given the multiple significant impacts of COVID-19 on the African continent, how have perceptions and attitudes towards the natural environment changed within and between types of individuals from 2016 (pre COVID) to 2021 (COVID) in South Africa? In a longitudinal, quantitative study, separate samples 721 in 2016 and 665 in 2021 were obtained. Participants in 2021 were grouped into the same six types using the same criteria, for comparison with the 2016 data. The results showed limited potential for pandemics to act as catalysts for long-term individual change towards increased pro-environmentalism. The study confirmed the main tenets of Terror Management Theory that individuals tend to be driven to uphold worldviews when confronted with mortality. Furthermore, there was a reduced experience of personal control over outcomes that increased reliance on sources of control outside the self as an attempt to buffer against mortality concerns. The study contributes towards Terror Management Theory's application during pandemics, and how that relates to individual environmental attitudes and perceptions.
... The NEP is a highly utilized known scale to measure Environmental Attitudes (EAs), it reflects beliefs about human-environment relationships and the perceived vulnerability of nature to human influences. Despite the emergence of other scales that measure EAs and despite problems associated with the NEP, such as unidimensional structure, (Bernstein and Szuster, 2018), no other measure has become the obvious heir to its throne and the NEP scale is still widely used (Mónus, 2021) as manifested in the numerous recent studies utilizing the NEP (e.g. Lou et al., 2022;Abedi Sarvestani and Shahraki, 2022;Hwang et al., 2020;Matsiori, 2020;Somerwill and Wehn, 2022;Tchetchik et al., 2021;Tchetchik et al., 2020). ...
The consumption of single-use plastics, such as disposable tableware (DTW), conveys a high benefit-cost ratio for consumers while having large environmental externalities. To encourage consumers to reduce their use of DTWs, governments could use small and non-coercive changes in people’s decision-making environments (nudges). This study focuses on the Israeli ultra-Orthodox communities a secluded population group that grows much faster- and consumes much more DTW than the rest of the Israeli population. Employing a quasi-representative sample (N = 450) of this population, this study conducted a discrete-choice experiment that presents the respondent with alternative options to reduce DTW. Two kinds of Nudges–framing and social norms–were utilized. The effectiveness of these Nudges in promoting PEB among faith-based communities has received little attention in previous studies. As another contribution to the literature, this paper also integrates latent constructs such as the respondents’ environmental attitudes and level of conservativeness. 46% of the respondents chose to opt-out whereas 29%, 14%, and 11% chose ‘1-day’, ‘2-days’, and ‘3-days’ per week avoiding DTW, respectively. Social norms, framings, and environmental attitudes had a significant mediating effect, with framing being associated with the highest effect on intentions to reduce DTW, i.e., a willingness to give up 0.31 USD per family member per month, compared to 0.07 USD for an increase in the description of the social norm. The results suggest that Nudges can enhance policies aimed at encouraging pro-environmental behavior among faith-based communities.
... For instance, the Global Warming's Six Americas' model has now been adapted and extended to India [24], Australia [14,25,26], Germany [16], Singapore [27], the Netherlands [28] and New Zealand [29]. Segmentation analyses have also been applied to other environmental issues, such as environmental protection [30] and worldviews [31], energy-related behaviours [32], and recycling attitudes [33] and behaviours [34]. Given the central role ideologies, values and worldviews play in shaping individuals' response to climate change information [1,2,6] audience segments could act as important moderators of message framing effects. ...
This study examines how unique audience segments within the Canadian population think and act toward climate change, and explores whether and how the level of audience engagement moderates the effect of various messages on support for climate policy. Drawing on a random probability sample of Canadian residents (N = 1207) conducted in October 2017, we first identify and describe five distinct audiences that vary in their attitudes, perceptions and behaviours with respect to climate change: the Alarmed (25%), Concerned (45%), Disengaged (5%), Doubtful (17%) and Dismissive (8%). We then explore how each segment responds to different messages about carbon pricing in Canada. We find that messages alluding to earmarking (i.e., “Invest in solutions”) or leveling the playing field for alternative energy sources (i.e., “Relative price”) increase support for a higher carbon price among the population as a whole. However, these messages decreased support for carbon pricing among more engaged audiences (e.g., Alarmed) when a low carbon price was specified to the respondent. Meanwhile, the “Relative price” is the only message that increased policy support among less engaged audiences–the Concerned and the Doubtful. In addition to highlighting the importance of tailoring and targeting messages for differently engaged segments, these results suggest that communicating around the specific consequences of carbon taxes for the prices of some goods may be a fruitful way to enhance support for carbon taxes among relatively less engaged audiences.
... The urban public is not a homogenous group and often generalised approaches are not effective in increasing connectedness to nature. Instead, target-group specific approaches focusing on different segments of the population appear to be promising in engaging the public in pro-environmental behaviours [9,10]. Segmenting a population can help to develop more effective strategies and meet the needs of different communities [9]. ...
... Instead, target-group specific approaches focusing on different segments of the population appear to be promising in engaging the public in pro-environmental behaviours [9,10]. Segmenting a population can help to develop more effective strategies and meet the needs of different communities [9]. The current research segments the Victorian population (Australia) along five dimensions of the AIMES connectedness to nature scale [11]. ...
... Instead dividing the Victorian population along the five dimensions of CN may result in more detailed information about the different styles in which Victorians express their connectedness to nature. This segmentation can be used to develop more effective strategies that more specifically meet the needs of the different parties as research has shown that policies are more likely to be accepted when they are designed to fit around individuals' beliefs and lifestyles [9,23]. Slater [24] describes the aim of segmentation to identify subgroups in the population that cluster together based on their shared values and beliefs. ...
Individuals can interact and develop multiple connections to nature (CN) which have different meanings and reflect different beliefs, emotions, and values. Human population are not homogenous groups and often generalised approaches are not effective in increasing connectedness to nature. Instead, target-group specific approaches focusing on different segments of the population can offer a promising approach for engaging the public in pro-environmental behaviours. This research employed latent class analysis to identify subgroups of individuals in a large, representative sample (n = 3090) of an Australian region. Three groups were identified using the AIMES measure of CN with its focus on five types of connection to nature. The high CN group comprised about one-third (35.4%) of participants while the group with the lowest profile of scores contained around a fifth (18.6%) of participants. The majority (46.0%) of participants registered CN levels between the high and low groups. These classes were then regressed on predictor variables to further understand differences between the groups. The largest, consistent predictors of class membership were biocentric and social-altruistic value orientations, stronger intentions to perform pro-environmental behaviours in public (e.g., travel on public transport), the amount of time spent in nature, and the age of participants.
... GHRM practices such as recruitment and selection, training and development (green abilities), performance management, reward and compensation (green motivation), and employee involvement and leadership (green opportunities) have a significant positive impact on the firm's green competitive advantage [3]. As such, GHRM refers to policies, procedures and systems that make an organisation's employees green for the benefit of the individual, society, the natural environment and the business [4,5]. ...
This research examines the interplay of green training, organisational citizenship behaviour toward the environment, top management commitment, and environmental performance in four different industrial units in Pakistan. These units have been implementing environmentally friendly policies and conforming their environmental activities to the regulatory framework of Pakistan’s National Environment Quality Standards in a sustainable manner. In particular, this research aims to ascertain how green training affects organisational citizenship behaviour toward the environment, and to evaluate the impact of top management commitment to environmental performance and green training. According to hypothesis testing results based on 222 key informants randomly recruited from the industry, green training positively relates to civic organisational behaviour toward the environment. In addition, top management commitment is entirely related to environmental performance. In contrast, green training is also positively associated with top management commitment. This study supports the ability motivation opportunity and resource-based view theories by demonstrating that top management commitment is a key factor in encouraging environmental performance and promoting green training that leads to organisational citizenship behaviour toward the environment. This study has several limitations, as the cross-sectional data were only from the manufacturing sector in Pakistan. The researchers strongly suggest that future studies use mixed-method research to understand the phenomenon better. Future researchers could conduct comparative research by using the current instrument in the service sector. Finally, future researchers could use multilevel modelling and potential moderators and mediators to constructively re-examine the model tested in this study by incorporating new variables accordingly.
... One way to achieve those insights is with segmentation analysis, the results of which have proven effective for developing engagement strategies that satisfy the needs of various communities (Bernstein & Szuster, 2018), and which will add much-needed complexity to existing efforts to understand levels of support for AI in the United States. For example, a 2018 U.S. survey has shown that two in five (41%) U.S. adults somewhat or strongly supported the development of AI. ...
The call for public scholarship to emphasize the broader impacts of science has raised questions about how universities can support this work among their scientists. This study quantitatively assesses how institutional factors shape scientists’ participation in public scholarship, a subset of public engagement focusing on scientists’ involvement in public debate and democratic decision-making related to science policy. Based on a 2018 survey of scientists from 46 US land-grant universities ( N = 6,242), hierarchical linear modeling results show that institutional factors, including tenure guidelines and the extent of government funding, play a minor role in influencing scientists’ public scholarship participation. More importantly, scientists’ perceptions of the university climate on support for engagement, including support from high-level administrators and for graduate students, are significant predictors of participation in public scholarship. Ultimately, these findings support the recommendation that universities should coordinate individual motivations with institutional missions to support a broader culture of public engagement.
... One way to achieve those insights is with segmentation analysis, the results of which have proven effective for developing engagement strategies that satisfy the needs of various communities (Bernstein & Szuster, 2018), and which will add much-needed complexity to existing efforts to understand levels of support for AI in the United States. For example, a 2018 U.S. survey has shown that two in five (41%) U.S. adults somewhat or strongly supported the development of AI. ...
Effective public engagement with complex technologies requires a nuanced understanding of how different audiences make sense of and communicate disruptive technologies with immense social implications. Using latent class analysis (LCA) on nationally-representative survey data (N = 2,700), we examine public attitudes on different aspects of AI, and segment the U.S. population based on their AI-related risks and benefit perceptions. Our analysis reveals five segments: the negative, perceiving risks outweighing benefits; the ambivalent, seeing high risks and benefits; the tepid, perceiving slightly more benefits than risks; the ambiguous, perceiving moderate risks and benefits; and the indifferent, perceiving low risks and benefits. For societal debates surrounding a deeply disruptive issue like AI, our findings suggest potential opportunities for engagement by soliciting input from individuals in segments with varying levels of support for AI, as well as a way to widen representation of voices and ensure responsible innovation of AI.
... Although the several criticisms of the NEP on its reliability (e.g. Hawcroft & Milfont 2010, Zhu & Lu 2017, dimensionality (Dunlap 2008, Hawcroft & Milfont 2010, Brennan et al. 2014, Bernstein & Szuster 2018 and ambiguity of some of the items (Lalonde & Jackson 2002, Lundmark 2007, Kopnina 2011, the NEP scale is still widely used and provides valuable insights to adult (e.g. Davis et al. 2019, Ntanos et al. 2019, Xiao et al. 2019) and children's environmental perception (e.g. ...
... After decades of environmentalism, measuring environmentalism, and developing environmental education methods and policies, there remains a lack of scientific consensus about which of these tools are best usable for general purposes. For the purposes of making research studies comparable and developing a huge body of studies for cumulative research, a widely accepted, general purpose measuring instrument is needed in both the context of environmental perception and attitudes (Anderson 2012, Bernstein & Szuster 2018, Bogner 2018, Manoli et al. 2019) and of pro-environmental behaviors (e.g. Markle 2013, Lange & Dewitte 2019. ...
... (e.g. Wiseman& Bogner 2003, Manoli et al. 2019; see also other references in the Introduction), the NEP is frequently criticized for its confused dimensionality (e.g.Hawcroft & Milfont 2010, Brennan et al. 2014, Bernstein & Szuster 2018, but also repeatedly reported not to be clearly one-dimensional (e.g.Thapa 2001, Liu & Chen 2019. Our results suggest that the NEP and the 2-MEV scales (including its subdimensions) measure different aspects of individuals' environmental perception, and are only partly overlapping. ...
Measuring environmental perceptions and pro-environmental behaviors (PEB) is an enduring interest in several research fields, including environmental education, marketing, policy sociology and innovation studies. A variety of tools have been developed to measure both environmental perception and PEB, challenging researchers to choose from the tools on offer. This study compares several measures, and finds that two widely used ones – the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale and the Two Major Environmental Values (2-MEV) scale – overlap, but have some significant differences. Combining the scales into a unified framework is possible, by retaining the ‘Preservation’ and ‘Utilization’ factors from 2-MEV and including an additional factor, ‘Eco-crisis’ sensitivity, which is uniquely covered by NEP. Results of analysis of PEB also suggest that the validity of Rasch model-based tools, which consider estimates of behavioral difficulties, is superior to those of widely used composite variables. Insights on other measurement issues are also discussed in order to inform researchers and future developers of measurement instruments.
... The Moralistic type [25] were also similar to the Alarmed concerning guilt as a motivator. The Cruel worlders [83] and Activist greens [20] were similar to the Alarmed, who had a negative outlook about the world. ...
To address the pathological human-nature nexus, psychological processes that impact this relationship need to be further understood. Individual differences related to personality, values, worldviews, affect, and beliefs are likely to influence how people relate to the natural world. However, there is a lack of empirically-based ecopsychological research exploring multiple individual attributes. Understanding individual differences enables the strategic design of planetary-focused interventions, such as advocacy, policy, and technology development. Using a theoretical model that incorporates intrinsic, affective, cognitive, and behavioral constructs, this study sought to identify and describe different types of people and their relationship with the biosphere. Seven hundred and fifty-three people completed an online quantitative questionnaire battery. Results from the cluster analyses of the cognitive and affective constructs showed that six heterogeneous types existed. Their different descriptive expressions of intrinsic, affective, cognitive, and behavioral constructs provide a deeper understanding of each type's relationship with the biosphere.
