Validation and psychometric properties of the Italian environmental Self-Efficacy Scale Short (ESE-10)

Abstract Research into sustainable consumption has grown significantly over the last decade. The aim of this paper is to adapt the original Environmental Self-Efficacy Short scale (ESE-10; Moeller & Stahlmann (Journal of Well-Being Assessment 3(2–3), 123–135, 2019)) to the Italian context and verify its psychometric properties. The ESE-10 measures an individual’s confidence in their ability to perform pro-environmental actions. This scale provides a reliable measure for understanding the psychological drivers behind pro-environmental actions, making it particularly relevant to consumer behavior research. By assessing environmental self-efficacy, factors that influence sustainable consumption can be identified and, consequently, inform strategies that promote eco-friendly behaviors among consumers. The scale underwent a process of back-translation. Moreover, during the validation process, the original scale was slightly modified by removing one item, for statistical and semantic reasons, resulting in a more accurate instrument for the Italian population. A total of 409 participants were included in the study (F = 80%, mean age = 31.48, SD = 13.52), and results from Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor analyses confirmed the unidimensional structure of the Italian ESE scale, maintaining 9 of the 10 original items (CFI = 0.996; TLI = 0.995; RMSEA = 0.046; SRMR = 0.021). Furthermore, both Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega indicate excellent internal consistency of the Italian ESE-9 scale. Therefore, the results suggest that the Italian ESE-9 scale is a reliable tool for assessing environmental self-efficacy in the Italian population.