Abstract Background Growing interest in human–nature interactions has highlighted the need for reliable tools to assess individual curiosity about the natural world. To address this, Próchniak (2017) developed the Elements of Nature Curiosity Scale (ENCS), a 10‐item instrument designed to capture curiosity towards hazardous natural events. Aims The present study evaluates the psychometric properties of the ENCS in a Canadian university sample, providing a cross‐cultural validation of the scale originally developed in a Polish context. Specifically, it tests the replicability of the scale′s proposed one‐factor structure. Materials & Methods Data were collected from a sample of 543 university students. This brief empirical note employs confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency checks (Cronbach′s alpha) to evaluate the 10‐item instrument. Results In the present sample, the full 10‐item scale demonstrated strong internal consistency ( α = .88), consistent with the original validation. However, confirmatory factor analysis indicated that one item (“ I like watching lightning ”) exhibited a lower‐than‐ideal factor loading. Removing this item resulted in a refined 9‐item version of the ENCS with improved model fit while maintaining high reliability. Discussion These findings suggest that while the ENCS is a useful tool, researchers should review item performance carefully across different cultural contexts. In this Canadian sample, the refined 9‐item form provided a more robust fit for the data than the original 10‐item version. Conclusion Overall, the results support the scale′s utility as a concise and acceptable measure of curiosity towards hazardous natural phenomena. The study highlights the value of continued scale refinement to ensure the valid assessment of this construct across diverse populations.
Samani et al. (Sun,) studied this question.