The Environmental Action Internal Control Index

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to develop a reliable and valid instrument that could be used to assess the relationship between locus of control of reinforcement and environmentally responsible behavior in undergraduate students. The criterion variable comprised scores on an inventory of self-reported performance of environmental actions carefully selected from the literature on environmentally responsible behavior and assessed by a panel of judges for their appropriateness to six categories of environmental action taking. Using seven phases of development and employing a variety of statistical techniques, the authors created the Environmental Action Internal Control Index (EAICI) to serve as the predictor variable. Scores on the EAICI and the self-report inventory of environmentally responsible behavior were analyzed by a Pearson product-moment correlation and by discriminant analysis techniques. The goal was to determine what correlation existed between scores on the EAICI and the measure of reported behavior and if the EAICI could accurately predict the extent of environmentally responsible behavior performed by the respondents. The EAICI displayed substantial internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .92); there was a moderate positive correlation between scores on the EAICI and scores on the self-report inventory of environmentally responsible behavior (r = .33, p < .01); and the EAICI successfully discriminated among individuals according to the extent of their participation in environmentally responsible behaviors in 82% of the cases (n = 850). The results suggest that the EAICI can accurately predict environmentally responsible behavior.