Factorial structure of the New Ecological Paradigm scale in two French samples

The principal objective of this research is to test the factorial structure of the New Ecological Paradigm scale on a population of men and women residing in France. The tested model is a second-order factorial model. This factorial structure is evaluated on two separate samples to test the stability of the solution (a first sample of 253 participants, diversified in terms of age and socioprofessional category, and a second sample of 266 students). The results confirm the existence of a second-order factorial structure in which environmental beliefs, measured based on 13 items taken from the New Ecological Paradigm scale, would constitute a homogeneous system of beliefs supported in five distinct dimensions.     

Place evaluation and self‐esteem at school: the mediated effect of place identification

Like neighbourhoods, companies or housing, schools are considered a location for which the student must develop feelings of attachment and identification. The purpose of this research is to test a path model in which the evaluation of the image of the scholastic institution plays a role in the process of sociospatial identification in the school place; this identification is itself involved in the development and maintenance of positive academic self‐esteem. Two hundred and seventy‐eight students registered at secondary schools participated in the research by responding to a questionnaire composed of a series of scales. The results show a good fit between the model and the data, since the students’ self‐esteem proved to be partially explained by the quality of their identification with their institution. The status of the level of sociospatial identification as a mediator variable was also confirmed.