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Как российские горожане относятся к природе? Адаптация опросника биофильных установок
Abstract
Context and relevance. In the context of accelerated urbanization and a growing disconnect from the natural
environment, there is increasing interest in biophilic attitudes — a system of stable views, beliefs, and
evaluations that reflect a person’s relationship with living nature and shape their psychological well-being and
environmentally responsible behavior. Existing tools for their measurement, such as the Biophilic Attitudes
Inventory (BAI), have primarily been validated on Western samples, and their applicability in the Russianspeaking
context remained unexplored. Objective: to adapt and validate the Russian-language version of the
Biophilic Attitudes Inventory on a sample of Russian city dwellers. Hypotheses. We hypothesized that adapting
the inventory would require revising its structure, as the original model would not fit the data obtained
from Russian respondents. It was also expected that the adapted tool would possess the property of measurement
invariance between groups differing by gender and experience of interaction with nature, and that the
level of biophilic attitudes would be higher among women, as well as among people who have pets or plants
at home. Methods and materials. The study involved 383 respondents (77.9% female) aged 18—55. We employed
exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, reliability assessment, multi-group factor analysis, and
comparative analysis. Results. The original models of the Biophilic Attitudes Inventory were not confirmed. A
new five-factor model was developed, consisting of 20 items and including the scales: Naturalism, Dominion,
Ecologism, Interest, and Safety. The model showed good fit (CFI = 0.960, TLI = 0.953, RMSEA = 0.036), satisfactory
reliability (ω = 0.68—0.87), and configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender and pet/plant
ownership. Construct validity (correlations with environmental identity) and criterion validity (links with behavior)
were confirmed. Expected group differences were found: pet/plant owners showed higher Ecologism;
men scored higher on Dominion, while women scored higher on Ecologism and Interest. Conclusions. The
adapted BAI is a valid and reliable tool for assessing biophilic attitudes in the Russian-speaking environment.
Its application opens up opportunities for research into the link with psychological well-being and for developing
ecopsychological interventions for urban populations.