Environmental Identity Scale

The Environmental Identity Scale (EIS) measures the degree to which individuals incorporate environmental values and ecological concerns into their sense of self—how central environmental stewardship is to personal identity and self-concept. Developed by Clayton (2003) from identity theory and social psychology, the EIS captures environmental identity as a psychological construct distinct from attitudes, values, or behaviors alone. High EIS scores indicate that individuals view themselves as 'environmental people' for whom conservation and sustainability are integral to who they are. The scale is foundational for research on sustainable behavior motivation, examining why environmental values persist and translate into behavior for some individuals but not others, and evaluating whether environmental interventions shift identity and thus self-motivated behavior change.