Responsible Environmental Behavior&Physical Exercise in Outdoor Sport Centers

The present study tested the psychometric properties of the 'Responsible Environmental Behaviour' scale in a Greek population. Additionally, differences in responsible environmental behaviour as a function of demographic characteristics were examined. Finally, the study investigated the relationship between responsible environmental behaviour and physical exercise participation in outdoor Sport Centers (e.g., parks). The survey involved 203 people from Greece (56% men and 44% women), coming from the two largest counties of Greece, Attica (69%) and Thessaloniki (31%), aged 18 to 69 years. The results of the exploratory factor analysis for the Responsible Environmental Behaviour scale provided support for the factorial validity of the scale, indicating the existence of two factors: a) 'individual environmental action’ and b) ‘group environmental action’. Analysis of internal consistency supported the reliability of the two subscales (Cronbach’s alpha .77 and .87 respectively). Regarding demographic characteristics the analyses showed that (a) men had higher scores than women in 'group environmental action' (p <.01), b) people with higher education showed higher scores in 'individual (p <.01) environmental action’. Finally, it was found that participants who did physical exercise in outdoor sport centers 'quite often' showed higher scores in 'group environmental action' (p <.01) than those who reported that they never did exercise. The results supported the psychometric properties of Responsible Environmental Behaviour and provided useful preliminary information on environmental behaviour in Greece.