This study investigated the influence of the interaction between personal and situational variables in environmental behavior and the predictive power of values and beliefs. Three different kinds of questions (environmental beliefs, Schwartz’s measure of values, and physical-environmental inhibition level) and 1 item of general environmental concern were presented, along with a 16-item list of environmental actions, to 125 randomly selected undergraduate students. The results permit two main conclusions. First, environmental behavior depends on personal and situational variables in an interactive way. Second, when high conflict level is generated between personal dispositions and situational conditions, the predictive power of attitudes tends to be minimal, whereas in the case of consistency between them it tends to be maximal. The influence of situational variables was found to depend on the environmental action considered. In some cases, situational variables were the most important, whereas in others, commitment or moral obligation played an essential role.

Abstract. Pro-environmental orientation constitutes one of the basic referents of modern culture. However, this pro-environmental orientation of a general nature does not permit us to predict pro-environmental behaviors. In order to explain this incongruence, it is necessary to take into account the sociostructural factors and socialization experiences through which people form their environmental values, attitudes, and behaviors. In this study we compare the values, attitudes, and behaviors of a rural sample and an urban sample, measured by means of three scales: the New Ecological Paradigm Scale, a moral obligation scale specifically designed for this study, and a scale of pro-environmental behavioral intentions. The results indicate high levels of environmental concern and low levels of pro-environmental behavior in both samples. On comparing the two samples it was found that those living in cities assume a larger number of environmental responsibility values but show less pro-environmental orientation when the attitude and behavioral intention scales are used. People living in the rural context present more attitudes of environmental responsibility and greater consistency on expressing behavioral intentions compatible with the protection of the environment.

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Esta es la versión de autor del artículo publicado en: This is an author produced version of a paper published in: influences EB in the three conditions. The strongest total impact was found for children living in the city and the weakest for those in the work-related rural area. No direct effect of FCN on EB was found for children in the non work-related rural area, and a negative direct effect for those in the work-related rural area. A better understanding of this direct effect will be needed in order to give recommendations for environmental education initiatives.

The wilderness is one of the most widely recognized sources of transcendent emotion. Various recent studies have demonstrated nature’s power to induce intense emotions. The study at hand will generate conceptual and operational definitions of sublime emotion toward nature. Taking into consideration the recent research on feelings of awe, an instrument is devised to measure sublime emotion toward nature. The proposed scale’s reliability and validity is tested in a sample of 280 participants from the general population of Madrid. Results show that sublime emotion was defined by two conceptual components: awe, and inspiring energy, both obtained using the computer program FACTOR. After reliability and validity analysis, the Sublime Emotion toward Nature (SEN) scale included 18 items, distributed into awe (6 items, α = 0.881) and inspiring energy (12 items, α = 0.933). Awe was defined by feelings of fear, threat, vulnerability, fragility, and respect for nature, which is perceived as vast, powerful, and mysterious. Inspiring energy was defined by feelings of vitality, joy, energy, oneness, freedom, eternity, and harmony with the universe. The SEN is an adequate instrument to measure transcendent emotions provoked by direct wilderness exposure or memory thereof.