Cross-Cultural Applications of the New Ecological Paradigm in Protected Area Contexts

Leejiah Dorward, Harriet Ibbett, Asri A. Dwiyahreni, Edward Kohi, Karlina Prayitno, Stephen Sankeni, Joseph Kaduma, Rose Mawenya, Jesca Mchomvu, Humairah Sabiladiyni, Andie Wijaya Saputra, Jatna Supriatna, Tyassanti Trywidiarini, Freya A.V. St John

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Working mostly in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic countries, environmental psychologists have developed scales assessing relationships between pro-environmental beliefs and behaviors. Working in Tanzanian and Indonesian protected area landscapes, containing important biodiversity and conflict over human-nature interactions, we investigate the utility of the New Ecological Paradigm for measuring pro-environmental beliefs and understanding support for protected area regulations. We found the New Ecological Paradigm ineffective at measuring pro-environmental beliefs in both countries; in Tanzania due to acquiescence bias, and in Indonesia exploratory factor analysis supported none of the original factors, with 4 of 15 statements loading onto a novel “eco-fragility” factor. Individual statements in both countries and the eco-fragility factor in Indonesia were weakly correlated with support for protected area regulations, highlighting while elements of the New Ecological Paradigm can improve understanding of support for protected area regulations, care must be taken when applying psychometric tools in novel cultural contexts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)120-151
Number of pages32
JournalEnvironment and Behavior
Volume56
Issue number1-2
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2024

Keywords

  • conservation
  • Indonesia
  • new ecological paradigm
  • pro-environmental beliefs
  • protected areas
  • psychometric scales
  • Tanzania
  • WEIRD contexts

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