Comparing eco-guilt across ten countries [Author Accepted Manuscript]

Eco-guilt, the feeling of responsibility for environmental harm, has been proposed as a motivator of pro-environmental behavior. To assess its cross-cultural validity, we examined the Eco-Guilt Questionnaire (EGuiQ-11) in samples from 10 countries (N = 997). Confirmatory factor analyses supported a one-factor structure, with configural and metric but not scalar invariance across countries, indicating that latent means should not be compared directly. Individual-level analyses showed that eco-guilt was higher among younger participants, women, and those self-reporting greater climate change knowledge, worry, and personal experience. However, associations varied between countries. Cross-country analyses further revealed that eco-guilt was unrelated to per capita CO2 footprints but positively associated with national vulnerability to climate change, suggesting that adverse experiences drive guilt, rather than responsibility for emissions. Overall, the EGuiQ-11 appears suitable for studying relationships between eco-guilt and other variables across cultural contexts but requires revision for valid mean-level comparisons.