Exploring the New Ecological Paradigm Scale for Gauging Children's Environmental Attitudes in China

A Chinese version of the revised NEP Scale was generated and adopted in a survey among 507 students (age 10 to 12 years old) from three elementary schools in Shenzhen, China. The results show an acceptable level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .65) but some abnormalities on the modified NEP scale: items 1 and 7 presented very low item-total correlations (≤.10); factor analysis generated five unclearly-patterned factors. The abnormalities on the modified scale, in light of a focus group interview during item modification stage, are partially attributed to some fundamental problems on the original revised NEP Scale per se on one hand, and may be partially understood as cultural differences in interpreting statements on the scale between China and Western nations on the other.