Development and validation of a climate change perceptions scale. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: van Valkengoed, A.M.; Steg, L.; Perlaviciute, G.
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental psychology. Volume 76(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: Climate change perceptions -- Scale validity -- Scale reliability -- Climate change beliefs; Environmental psychology -- Periodicals; Environment -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; 155.905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101652
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-4944

Abstract

Abstract: People's perceptions of climate change have been of great interest for understanding how people respond to climate change. Yet, studies differ greatly in how they assess climate change perceptions, which makes it difficult to compare and integrate findings. The aim of this paper is to develop and validate a scale to reliably measure people's climate change perceptions. We define climate change perceptions as people's perceptions of the reality and causes of climate change, and the perceived valence, spatial distance, and temporal distance of consequences of climate change. To measure these perceptions, an item pool was developed based on a literature search and expert review. The resulting scale was tested in three empirical studies conducted in the US and the Netherlands, which supported the factor structure; reliability; convergent, predictive, and discriminant validity; and measurement invariance of the scale. Implications for future research are discussed. Highlights: We developed and validated a scale to measure climate change perceptions. The scale measures the perceived reality, causes, and consequences of climate change. Three studies support the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the scale. A single-items version of the scale performed comparably to the full scale.