AUTHOR=Neurohr Anna-Lena , Pasch Nadine , Otto Siegmar , Möller Andrea 

TITLE=Measuring adolescents’ level of interest in nature: a promising psychological factor facilitating nature protection

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1186557

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1186557

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Studies indicate that young people are more prepared to engage in pro-environmental behavior if they are interested in nature and recognize it as worthy of protection. However, a reliable instrument to measure adolescents’ interest in nature is still lacking. Therefore, we developed a new metric, the <italic>Scale of Interest in Nature</italic> (SIN). It consists of 18 items, is based on Item-Response-Theory and was validated using the known group approach (<italic>N</italic> = 351 adolescents). Results indicate that adolescents’ interest in nature correlates positively with their connection with nature, their intention to preserve nature and engagement in pro-environmental activities in their free time. Bivariate Pearson correlations between the SIN and the Connectedness to Nature Scale (INS), as well as the Environmental Values model (2-MEV) demonstrated the scale’s construct validity. Hence, the SIN scale provides an economical way to measure adolescents’ interest in nature in research contexts or environmental and sustainability education settings.</p>