Psychometric evaluation of two instruments to assess connection to nature / Evaluación psicométrica de dos instrumentos que miden la conexión con la naturaleza

Abstract

Abstract The biophilia hypothesis states that human beings have an innate tendency to connect with nature. The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the full and short versions of both the Environmental Identity Scale (EID) and the Nature Relatedness Scale (NR). Participants were 209 Singaporean undergraduate students (67.9% females) from a medium-sized university in Singapore. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a unidimensional structure for the Full EID and the Short EID. Acceptable internal consistency coefficients of .96 and .92 were found for the two instruments, respectively. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a three-factor structure for the Full NR: (a) NR-Self; (b) NR-Experience; and (c) NR-Perspective. However, two items were removed, and there are differences in the items that load on each factor. In addition, the NR-Perspective is unreliable, with an internal consistency coefficient of .62. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a unidimensional structure for the Short NR. An acceptable internal consistency coefficient of .82 was found. Taken together, the current study provided support for the use of the Full and Short EID and the Short NR as psychometrically valid instruments among Singapore undergraduate students.