Abstract:

This study aimed to adapt Nature Relatedness (NR) Scale into Turkish. This scale was developed by Nisbet, Zelenski and Murphy (2009) to measure cognitive, affective and physical connection of people with nature. While the instrument was being adapted to Turkish, the characteristics of Turkish language, cultural, social and environmental structures were considered. During the translation process, expert opinions were taken for the language validity. Data set was collected from 859 (449 female, 408 male, 2 participants did not indicate gender) university students. In order to provide construct validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. EFA results revelaed that the scale included three dimensions with 44.71% variation. CFA analysis indicated good fit indices (RMSEA= .078, CFI= .94 GFI= .87, X2/sd= 4.78). These three sub-dimensions were NR-self, NR-perspective and NR-experience. Cronbach-alpha reliability coefficient of NR scale was found as .88. As for reliability, Cronbach-alpha reliability coefficient of NR-self, NR-perspective and NR-experience were found respectively as .87, .74 and .73. Furthermore, to support construct vailidity the relationships between NR and pro-environmental behaviors, NR and environmental concerns and NR and frequency of outdoor activities were investigated. The results revealed that Turkish version of the Nature Relatedness Scale was a reliable and valid instrument and the scale was explained well with three factors

Keywords: