中華世界觀與環境態度

The aim of the study was to develop and validate scales to measure worldviews present in different Chinese populations, and to investigate the association between those worldviews on the one side and environmental attitudes and behavior on the other. A worldview is a set of beliefs about the fundamental structure, origin and workings of the world (metaphysics), and about the ultimate purpose and meaning in human life (ethics). On the basis of these it provides general guidance for many of a person’s attitudes and actions. By means of literature review and expert consultation, it was found that four worldviews were present in different Chinese populations: Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and also Monotheism (Christianity, Islamism, and Judaism). A questionnaire consisting of 43 items tapping the four worldviews was developed, and was administered together with a number of other scales, measuring anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, ecologically conscious consumer behavior, and endorsement of pro-environmental policies, to a sample of Chinese in Hong Kong (N = 341). A principal component analysis with Varimax rotation extracted two factors which explained 32% of the total variance. 18 items conceptually belonging to either Confucianism, Buddhism or Daoism loaded onto one single factor, and so defined the first factor (labeled as: Traditional Chinese Worldview, α = .861), whereas 9 monotheism items loaded onto and define the second factor (Monotheism a = .943). The two factors were weakly correlated, r = .176, p <0.01. The result of a confirmatory factor analysis provided support to the validity of this two-factor structure of worldviews: RMSEA = 0.08, NNFI = .91, CFI = .92.The impact of the two worldview factors on attitudinal and behavioral variables was tested using path analysis in the Hong Kong sample. Results showed that Traditional Chinese Worldview exerted its effects on pro-environmental behavior mainly via ecocentrism. In particular, higher Traditional Chinese Worldview was associated with higher ecocentrism which in turn predicted pro-environmental behavior and endorsement of pro-environmental policies. On the other hand, higher Monotheism was associated with higher anthropocentrism which predicted pro-environmental behavior. In further test of the validity of the two-factor structure of worldviews mentioned above, the same 43-item worldview questionnaire was also administered to a sample of Chinese people in Nanjing. Application of the data reduction procedure used in the Hong Kong sample yielded two factors explaining 27.1% of the total variance. Like in the Hong Kong sample, the first factor was loaded by 14 items belonging to either Confucianism, Buddhism or Daoism (i.e., Traditional Chinese Worldview), and explained 13.7% of total variance, whereas the second factor was loaded by the 9 monotheism items, and explained another 13.4% of total variance.Results of analyzing the Nanjing sample provide support to the thesis that two worldview factors are present in different Chinese populations. We have demonstrated that worldviews are theoretically important antecedents to pro-environmental attitudes which have been reported repeatedly in the West to be predictive of pro-environmental behavior. In general, the impact of worldviews should not be restricted to the environmental domain. Further research is required to demonstrate whether the construct of Traditional Chinese Worldview also has general behavioral consequences in other different domains.