10.2190/EJP5-56TU-0G9U-FUJL EJP556TU0G9UFUJL 1 A Comparison of Two Measures of Reuse and Recycling Behavior: Self-Report and Material Culture 313 327 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 EJP556TU0G9UFUJL.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=EJP556TU0G9UFUJL 4 Victor Corral Verdugo Gerardo Bernache Lilia Encinas Lydia C. Garibaldi Universidad de Sonora, Mexico University of Arizona, Tucson Reuse and recycling patterns of fifty Mexican families were studied. Such patterns were assessed from 1) the hands-on recording of the presence of reusable and recyclable items in the garbage discarded by a sample of families (their material culture) and 2) the analysis of self-reports given by housewives regarding their reuse or recycling practices. A comparison of the two types of data obtained was made by using regression analyses, which revealed a non-significant correlation between most of the self-reported reuse/recycle activities and the material record of the actual presence of reusable/recyclable products in trash samples. Then, a confirmatory factor analysis of both indicators of reusing and recycling revealed that each method measures a different construct. These two constructs seem to be independent since their statistical correlation is frail and non-significant. A discussion of the nature of such constructs is developed, and the significance of these findings is considered. R. DeYoung, Some Psychological Aspects of Recycling. The Structure of Conservation Satisfactions, <i>Environment and Behavior, 18</i>, pp. 435-449, 1986. R. DeYoung, Encouraging Environmentally Appropriate Behavior. The Role of Intrinsic Motivation, <i>Journal of Environmental Systems, 15</i>, pp. 281-292, 1986. L. M. Goldenhar and C. M. Connell, Understanding and Predicting Recycling Behavior: An Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action, <i>Journal of Environmental Systems, 22</i>, pp. 91-103, 1993. W. L. Rathje, Socioeconomic Correlates of Household Residuals: Phase 2, <i>Report to the Directorate for Research Applied to National Needs</i>, National Science Foundation, 1978. W. W. Hughes, The Method to Our Madness. The Garbage Project Methodology, <i>American Behavioral Scientist, 28</i>, pp. 41-40, 1984. D. T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske, Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-multimethod Matrix, <i>Psychological Bulletin, 58</i>, pp. 91-105, 1959. W. L. Rathje, Where's the Beef?, <i>American Behavioral Scientist, 28</i>, pp. 71-91, 1984. W. L. Rathje and C. Murphy, <i>Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage</i>, Harper Perennial, New York, 1992. W. L. Rathje, The Three Faces of Garbage—Measurements, Perceptions, Behaviors, <i>Journal of Resource Management and Technology, 17</i>, pp. 61-65, 1989. J. A. Cote, Use of Household Refuse Analysis to Measure Usual and Period-specific Food Consumption, <i>American Behavioral Scientist, 28</i>, pp. 129-138, 1984. R. H. McGuire, Recycling, Great Expectations and Garbage Outcomes, <i>American Behavioral Scientist, 28</i>, pp. 41-50, 1984. S. E. Hormut and S. Katzenstein, Psychological Studies on Garbage Avoidance and Recycling, <i>Environmental Design Research Association</i>, 22, pp. 321-325, 1991. W. L. Rathje, D. C. Wilson, W. W. Hughes, and T. Jones, The Phoenix Report. Characterization of Recyclable Materials in Residential Solid Wastes, <i>Report to the City</i> of Phoenix Arizona by the Garbage Project, University of Arizona, Tucson, 1989. INEGI, <i>Sistema para la Consulta de Información Censal (SCINCE)</i>, Institute Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática, Mexico, 1992. P. M. Bentler, <i>EQS, Structural Equations Program Manual</i>, BMDP Statistical Software, Los Angeles, 1989. W. Michelson, Measuring Macroenvironment and Behavior: The Time Budget an Time Geography, in <i>Methods in Environmental and Behavioral Research</i>, R. B. Bechtel, R. W. Marans, and W. Michelson (eds.), Krieger, Malabar, Florida, 1990.