Ecology: Let's hear from the people: An objective scale for the measurement of ecological attitudes and knowledge

Reports the development of a 130-item scale measuring verbal and actual commitments to ecological issues, degree of emotionality toward these issues, and specific knowledge of facts relevant to ecology. Validity and reliability were established by administering the scale to (a) 32 Sierra Club members, (b) 56 undergraduates, and (c) 40 noncollege adults. The corrected split-half reliability for the 4 subscales (Verbal and Actual Commitment, Affect, and Knowledge) was .91, .93, .92, and .89, respectively. Sierra Club members scored significantly higher on all subscales than undergraduate or noncollege Ss. Results suggest that most Ss had a relatively high level of verbal commitment and affect, with lower levels of actual commitment and knowledge. It is suggested that the average person appears to know very little about ecology.