The Environmental Satisfaction Scale

Satisfaction with environmental conditions and government policies are hypothesized to play an important role in the genesis of proenvironmental behaviors. Given the absence of a scale measuring these constructs, two studies were conducted for the purpose of constructing and vaidating the Environmental Satisfaction Scale (ESS). The ESS consists of two subscales measuring individuals' satisfaction with local environmental conditions and with government policies. In the first study, a prototype of the ESS was constructed, and Its psychometric properties were evaluated. Results supported the factorial structure of the scale and showed satisfactory levels of internal consistency. In the second study, subjects completed the revised ESS, the Motivation Towards the Environment Scale, and various measures of environmental attitudes and behaviors. Results supported the by dimensional factorial structure and construct validity of the scale. Implications for the use of the ESS in future research on the environment are discussed.