Abstract This study contributes to an operationalization of the concept of action competence for sustainability through the theoretical development and empirical validation of a new 12-item Likert-scale questionnaire: the Self-Perceived Action Competence for Sustainability Questionnaire, SPACS-Q. Other scales in environmental and sustainability education (ESE) typically measure concepts such as pro-environmental and sustainability attitudes and behaviors, and therefore do not fully cover the concept of action competence for sustainability. An action differs from a ‘mere’ behavior in that it is voluntary and targeted at bringing about change, which is the overarching goal of ESE. We define action competence as a latent capacity among individuals to act sustainably. We introduce a novel scale measuring this seminal concept. Totally, 614 Swedish adolescents aged 12-19 participated in this study. The scale includes three latent subconstructs: i) knowledge of action possibilities, ii) confidence in one’s own influence, and iii) the willingness to act. Confirmatory factor analyses, reliability measures and investigation of convergent validity reveal a questionnaire instrument with excellent psychometric quality. We put forward that the SPACS-Q is a novel and theory-driven, empirically reliable and valid, instrument, and encourage fellow researchers to use the SPACS-Q when investigating people’s action competence for sustainability in various contexts.

中文翻译：

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可持续发展的自我感知行动能力：一种新型研究工具的理论基础和实证验证

摘要 本研究通过对新的 12 项李克特量表问卷的理论发展和实证验证：可持续发展问卷的自我感知行动能力，SPACS-Q，有助于可持续行动能力概念的实施。环境和可持续性教育 (ESE) 中的其他量表通常衡量诸如亲环境和可持续性态度和行为等概念，因此并未完全涵盖可持续性行动能力的概念。行动不同于“纯粹”的行为，因为它是自愿的，并且旨在带来改变，这是 ESE 的首要目标。我们将行动能力定义为个人可持续行动的潜在能力。我们引入了一个衡量这个开创性概念的新尺度。完全，614 名 12-19 岁的瑞典青少年参加了这项研究。该量表包括三个潜在的子结构：i) 行动可能性的知识，ii) 对自己影响的信心，以及 iii) 采取行动的意愿。验证性因素分析、信度测量和收敛效度调查揭示了具有出色心理测量质量的问卷工具。我们提出 SPACS-Q 是一种新颖的、理论驱动的、经验可靠和有效的工具，并鼓励其他研究人员在调查人们在各种情况下的可持续性行动能力时使用 SPACS-Q。信度测量和收敛效度调查揭示了一种具有出色心理测量质量的问卷工具。我们提出 SPACS-Q 是一种新颖的、理论驱动的、经验可靠和有效的工具，并鼓励其他研究人员在调查人们在各种情况下的可持续性行动能力时使用 SPACS-Q。信度测量和收敛效度调查揭示了一种具有出色心理测量质量的问卷工具。我们提出 SPACS-Q 是一种新颖的、理论驱动的、经验可靠和有效的工具，并鼓励其他研究人员在调查人们在各种情况下的可持续性行动能力时使用 SPACS-Q。