Table of Contents
Abstract
The Environmental Efficacy Measure, as detailed by Meijers et al. in 2023, was designed to evaluate seven distinct efficacy beliefs that fall under the Personal-Collective-Governmental (PCG) typology, which draws from the work of Witte (1992), Koletsou & Mancy (2011), and Hart & Fieldman (2016). The content for the scale was derived from prior research in the field, including studies by Koletsou & Mancy (2011) and Feldman et al. (2017). This resulted in a 50-item instrument that was subsequently assessed within a broader measurement model. The study sample consisted of adults who were recruited from the Dutch panel of the market research firm Survey Sampling International. The researchers reported on the factor analysis, reliability, and validity findings for these items. A noted limitation of the study was that the authors did not place a focus on examining the interrelationships among the different efficacy subtypes.
Keywords
Personal-Collective-Governmental Efficacy Typology; Efficacy Beliefs; Personal Response Efficacy; Personal Efficacy; Collective Response Efficacy; Collective Efficacy; Internal Governmental Efficacy; External Governmental Efficacy; Governmental Response Efficacy
Authors
Meijers, Marijn H.C.; Wonneberger, Anke; Azrout, Rachid; Torfadóttir, Ragnheiður “Heather”; Brick, Cameron
Purpose
The objective of this questionnaire is to advance the research on understanding how subtypes of personal, collective, and governmental efficacy are linked to different types of environmental actions.
Construct
The instrument is designed to measure the construct of Environmental Beliefs.
Validity
Evidence of the instrument’s validity was established through multiple analyses. For convergent validity, it was found that for the personal efficacy and collective efficacy factors, all items loaded onto their respective factors as anticipated. Any items that did not load as expected were removed from the final scale. To assess discriminant validity, the two factors with the highest correlation—personal response efficacy and collective response efficacy—were merged. This action resulted in a significantly worse model fit (χ2 diff (df = 6) = 483.73, p < .001), which confirms that the factors possess adequate discriminant validity.
Reliability
The internal consistency of the scale was assessed, revealing that the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the subscales ranged from .86 to .93.
Factor Analysis
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. Following the removal of problematic items, the final seven-factor structure demonstrated a good model fit, with the following statistics: χ2 (df = 1134) = 2311.88, p < .001, CFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.04, 90%CI [0.04, 0.05], PCLOSE = 1.000.
Instrument
This is an original inventory/questionnaire. The format involves scoring all items on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The instrument is available in Dutch, with the source publication providing items in English. The target population includes adult humans, both male and female (18 years and older). Specifically, the validation sample consisted of adult participants from The Netherlands who were part of the Dutch panel of the market research company Survey Sampling International. The test methodology encompassed assessments of Test Validity (Convergent and Discriminant), Test Reliability (Internal Consistency), and Factor Analysis (Confirmatory Factor Analysis).
Keywords
Collective Behavior; Environmental Attitudes; Government Policy Making; Self-Efficacy; Taxonomies; Environmental Measures; Pro Environmental Behavior; Personal-Collective-Governmental Efficacy Typology; Efficacy Beliefs; Personal Response Efficacy; Personal Efficacy; Collective Response Efficacy; Collective Efficacy; Internal Governmental Efficacy; External Governmental Efficacy; Governmental Response Efficacy
Authors
Meijers, Marijn H.C.
Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3783-7499
Affiliation: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, Department of Communication Science
Email address: [email protected]
Correspondence Address: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, Department of Communication Science, PO BOX 15791, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1001 NG
Wonneberger, Anke
Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2209-9983
Affiliation: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, Department of Communication Science
Email address: No data is Available
Azrout, Rachid
Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6774-3472
Affiliation: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, Department of Communication Science
Email address: No data is Available
Torfadóttir, Ragnheiður “Heather”
Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5904-2406
Affiliation: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, Department of Communication Science
Email address: No data is Available
Brick, Cameron
Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7174-8193
Affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology
Email address: No data is Available
Permissions & Fee and Test Year
The instrument was developed in 2023. It is available for Research/Teaching purposes and is not intended for commercial use. There is no fee required to use the scale. It is licensed under a Creative Commons license, which can be viewed at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Reference’s
Meijers, M. H. C., Wonneberger, A., Azrout, R., Torfadóttir, R. “H.”, & Brick, C. (2023). Introducing and testing the personal-collective-governmental efficacy typology: How personal, collective, and governmental efficacy subtypes are associated with differential environmental actions. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 85, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101915
Items of the Environmental Efficacy Measure
The complete 50-item scale is available for review. The items are organized into seven distinct subscales: Personal efficacy, Personal response efficacy, Collective efficacy, Collective response efficacy, Internal governmental efficacy, External governmental efficacy, and Governmental response efficacy. The full list of items can be found in Appendix A (Pages 10-11) of the source reference document (Meijers et al., 2023).
| Subscale | Items |
| Personal efficacy | (1) I am able to behave in an environmentally friendly manner.<br>(2) I am able to change my lifestyle to behave in a more pro-environmental manner.<br>(3) In everyday life, I am able to limit the use of natural resources.<br>(4) I consider myself capable of limiting the use of natural resources.<br>(5) I think I know how I can save energy in everyday life.<br>(6) I find it easy to save energy.<br>(7) I am convinced that I can recycle more in everyday life.<br>(8) I am confident that I can recycle. |
| Personal response efficacy | (1) Environmental problems are partly a consequence of my own behaviors.<br>(2) My personal behavior can contribute to solving environmental problems.<br>(4) It makes a difference if I limit the use of natural resources.<br>(5) By saving energy, I can help solve environmental problems.<br>(6) Because my behavior can affect the environment, it makes a difference whether I save energy.<br>(7) By recycling, I can help solve environmental issues.<br>(8) My recycling behavior can have a positive effect on the environment. |
| Collective efficacy | (1) Everyone is capable of behaving in an environmentally friendly manner.<br>(2) I trust that everyone is able to change their lifestyle to behave in a more pro-environmental manner.<br>(3) In everyday life, most people are able to limit the use of natural resources.<br>(4) I think everyone is capable of limiting the use of natural resources.<br>(5) I think most people know how to save energy in their daily lives.<br>(6) It is easy for most people to save energy.<br>(7) I believe everyone is able to recycle.<br>(8) I am confident that most people can recycle more in everyday life. |
| Collective response efficacy | (1) I think that we can jointly protect the environment.<br>(2) I think that by working together we can solve environmental problems.<br>(3) When everyone tries to limit the use of natural resources, it helps the environment.<br>(4) People can together, through collective effort, solve environmental issues.<br>(5) I think that we can collectively solve environmental problems by saving energy.<br>(6) If we all reduce energy consumption, it will contribute enormously to solving environmental issues.<br>(7) When everyone starts to recycle more, we can prevent the negative consequences of environmental problems.<br>(8) It is useful if everyone starts recycling, because together we can protect the environment. |
| Internal governmental efficacy | (2) I consider myself to be well qualified to participate in politics concerning environmental problems.<br>(3) When I vote, I am able to consider positions on environmental issues.<br>(4) I am confident that I can follow political decision making regarding natural resources.<br>(5) I am confident that I can discuss the regulations about the use of energy with others.<br>(6) When I vote, I am able to consider positions on energy policy.<br>(8) I consider myself expert enough to discuss recycling issues with a government official. |
| External governmental efficacy | (1) The government pays attention to the opinion of citizens when they make decisions about environmental problems.<br>(2) The government decides how to protect the environment based on what people want.<br>(4) People like me have a say about what the government does to limit the use of natural resources.<br>(5) The government cares about the opinion of citizens regarding energy savings.<br>(7) The government is interested in what people like me think about recycling.<br>(8) The government cares a lot about what citizens think about recycling. |
| Governmental response efficacy | (2) The government could effectively protect the environment by introducing stricter laws.<br>(3) Natural resources can be protected by raising taxes.<br>(4) If government officials were to pass laws to reduce the usage of natural resources, it would help protect the environment.<br>(5) If the government increased subsidies for energy savings, it would be effective in reducing emissions.<br>(6) Stricter laws for energy conservation would effectively contribute to saving energy.<br>(7) Stricter recycling legislation would be effective for environmental protection.<br>(8) If the government increased taxes for waste disposal, it would promote recycling. |
Note. These items were translated from Dutch. Items were rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
Cite this article
Mohammed looti (2026). Environmental Efficacy Measure. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/environmental-efficacy-measure/
Mohammed looti. "Environmental Efficacy Measure." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 6 Apr. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/environmental-efficacy-measure/.
Mohammed looti. "Environmental Efficacy Measure." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/environmental-efficacy-measure/.
Mohammed looti (2026) 'Environmental Efficacy Measure', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/environmental-efficacy-measure/.
[1] Mohammed looti, "Environmental Efficacy Measure," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, April, 2026.
Mohammed looti. Environmental Efficacy Measure. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.