Beyond Validation A literature review exploring the use of and recommendations for the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire after its original validation

Abstract

The importance of sustainable development (SD) has been recognized globally, leading to the creation of a tool called the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ). This tool measures different aspects of people’s knowingness, attitude, and behavior on SD in terms of the environment, society, and economy. This study looks at how the SCQ has been used in the scientific community since its creation, examining its various uses and suggestions for improvement. The current study used a systematic approach to review articles that have made use of the SCQ, encompassing 87 relevant articles. These articles were analyzed to understand how the SCQ is used, in which regions and for what audiences, in which research fields and for what research purposes, and what improvements are suggested. The current study found that the SCQ shows great versatility in research methodologies, being used as a conceptual framework, in an adapted form, or in total, with the short SCQ version predominating. It was found that the SCQ has been used all around the world, yet most often in Sweden, reflecting its origin. Likewise, the SCQ was predominantly used in education, which was the original context for which the SCQ was developed, though the SCQ has also expanded to various other contexts. Then again, the main target audience of the SCQ has been individuals above the age to 18 years old, which is a small shift from the original audience of 18-19 year olds. Furthermore, the SCQ has since its development most often been used for assessing specific target audiences, but also for intervention impact assessment and correlation studies. Lastly, the current study provides a priority list of suggested improvements to the SCQ based on feedback from the literature. Suggestions for improvement include providing a manual, reconsidering scales, advancing validation, incorporating qualitative aspects, and addressing both private and public sustainability dimensions. Altogether, this literature review highlights versatility, adaptability, and potential for further development of the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire.