title: Underlying dimensions of ecocentric and anthropocentric environmental beliefs.
abstract: This study focuses on the cognitive components of general environmental attitudes. Taking as a starting point the scale of Thompson and Barton (1994) to identify ecocentric and anthropocentric motives in environmental conservation, the beliefs that guide attitudes in the person-environment relationship are analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to contrast the tripartite structure of these beliefs--based on egoistic, socioaltruistic, and biospheric aspects-with a two-dimensional structure that confronts ecocentric and anthropocentric orientations. The results obtained from two samples, a student sample (n = 212) and a sample from the general population of Madrid (n = 205), indicate the existence of a three-dimensional structure of environmental beliefs: an anthropocentric dimension based on the instrumental value of the environment for human beings, a biospheric dimension that values the environment for its own sake, and, lastly, an egobiocentric dimension that values the human being within nature as a whole.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Plaza de Padilla, 4, 45071 Toledo, Spain. Maria.Amerigo@uclm.es
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amérigo
authors.forename: Juan Ignacio
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Aragonés
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Frutos
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sevillano
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cortés
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000533:Altruism; D001290:Attitude; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003469:Culture; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D019368:Nature; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012945:Social Values