Analysis of the structure and factorial invariance of the Multidimensional Environmental Concern Scale (MECS)

Background: Most studies focused on measuring environmental attitudes consider a one-dimension measure of pro/anti-environmentalism, such as NEP scale. Nevertheless, more recent research has shown that it seems more adequate to use a multidimensional approach when assessing complex relations among people and the natural environment, particularly on cultural basis. This paper aims to test the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Environmental Concern Scale (MECS) and, in particular, its factorial invariance. Method: Two studies were conducted. The first one assessed factorial invariance using two different approaches (multiple group confirmatory factor analysis - MGCFA, and alignment method) in a sample of 907 undergraduate students from Argentina, India, and Spain. A second study was conducted with 557 adults from Mexico and Spain, which also evaluated the criterion validity of the MECS' scores. Results: The results obtained allowed to assure an acceptable degree of invariance of the MECS among all countries, and in terms of gender (Studies 1 and 2), age and education level (Study 2). Conclusions: Results provide support for a multidimensional approach when studying the environmental concern, showing that the environmentalism presents different associations depending on the analysed country. A deep analysis on different conceptualization of environmentalism will be promoted.