Environmental concern and behaviour in an Australian sample within an ecocentric - Anthropocentric framework

Abstract

Two hundred and ninety-two participants from 126 urban and rural locations across Australia responded to a questionnaire assessing levels of environmental concern and behaviour. The environmental concern items consisted of the Thompson and Barton ecocentric, anthropocentric, and apathy scales, together with the items in the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) revised scale. The broad picture in terms of sociodemographic variables was that female gender, better education, and being older were associated with higher levels of ecocentric concern for the environment and reporting more ecological behaviours. In regard to concern measures, reported frequency of environmental behaviours was positively associated with levels of ecocentric concern and endorsement of the NEP scale, and negatively associated with levels of anthropocentric concern and apathy. A combination of scores on the Thompson and Barton scales and demographic variables accounted for 36% of the variability in reported ecological behaviours.