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By relying on various theoretical paradigms, extant research has developed several measurement tools for the assessment of individual environmental identity. One of the most important such tools is the Inclusion of Nature in Self measure (INS; Schultz, 2001). In comparison to other measures, the INS is very concise and easy to administer. However, because of its single-item nature, its psychometric properties and applicability domains are limited in scope. The present research proposes a four-item development of the INS – the Extended Inclusion of Nature in Self (EINS) scale. In Study 1, we explore the relevance of spatial metaphors in the assessment of self-nature connection. Based on the insights from this study, we develop an extended version of the INS and investigate its dimensionality, reliability, and validity across 5 studies. Our studies converge in suggesting that the proposed EINS is psychometrically stronger than the original INS, compares well in criterion-related validity to extant verbal scales, and has broader research applicability.
While extant research suggests that holding biospheric values may foster environmentally friendly behavior, we need to learn more about the development of such values at an individual level. Our conceptual framework proposes that individual environmental identity could play a role in the formation of a biospheric value orientation. We conducted two cross-sectional surveys (N = 494, N = 107) and a quasi-experimental study (N = 271) in the US and Europe and with demographically different samples to investigate this conceptual linkage. Our findings show that stronger (vs. weaker) self-nature connections in individuals are related to stronger (vs. weaker) biospheric value orientations, which in turn are associated with various forms of sustainable behavior. Our research links two major literature streams in environmental psychology (i.e., research on self-nature connections and biospheric values) by proposing a developmental account of the relations between environmental identity and relevant values.