Environmental Values

Abstract

Values are often invoked in discussions of how to develop a more sustainable relationship with the environment. There is a substantial literature on values that spans several disciplines. In philosophy, values are relatively stable principles that help us make decisions when our preferences are in conflict and thus convey some sense of what we consider good. In economics, the term values is usually used in discussions of social choice, where an assessment of the social value of various alternatives serves as a guide to the best choice under a utilitarian ethic (the greatest good for the greatest number). In sociology, social psychology, and political science, two major lines of research have addressed environmental values. One has focused on four value clusters: self-interest, altruism, traditionalism, and openness to change and found relatively consistent theoretical and empirical support for the relationship of values to environmentalism. The other line of research suggests that environmentalism emerges when basic material needs are met and that individuals and societies that are postmaterialist in their values are more likely to exhibit pro-environmental behaviors. The evidence in support of this argument is more equivocal. Overall, the idea that values, especially altruism, are related to environmentalism, seems well established, but little can be said about the causes of value change and of the overall effects of value change on changes in behavior.

Progress in socio‐hydrology: a meta‐analysis of challenges and opportunities

“…76,78 But then again, many social processes such as the evolution of human values, norms, and institutions, which play a critical role in defining the societal feedbacks within the sociohydrological framework, 40 may require concepts that are difficult to measure. 79 For example, what should be the units of measurement of a society or community's sensitivity to its wetlands (even while acknowledging that such a concept may not be agreeable to all normative social scientists). While fields such as economic theory have explored several such questions, e.g., how to measure the utility that humans derive from consuming goods such as food, and environmental services such as bird refuge or aquatic recreation, these efforts also foretell difficulties in validating interdisciplinary socio-hydrological models, since not all of the variables constituting these models may be measurable.…”

“…While fields such as economic theory have explored several such questions, e.g., how to measure the utility that humans derive from consuming goods such as food, and environmental services such as bird refuge or aquatic recreation, these efforts also foretell difficulties in validating interdisciplinary socio-hydrological models, since not all of the variables constituting these models may be measurable. 79 For example, it is unclear if agents protect their environment for their future generations and it is difficult to measure the extent to which humans are willing to go to protect their environment.The generation of new hypotheses as part of the iterative process of scientific inquiry and knowledge discovery is challenging. The need to develop new concepts appear when explanations provided by current models or theories are unable to replicate observed patterns and interpret phenomena.…”

The Value Base of Water Governance: A Multi-Disciplinary Perspective

“…Mankiw & Tailor 2006). It is based on a conceptualisation of human beings as rational actors that aim to satisfy their substitutable preferences and make choices in a way that would maximise their utility, considering costs and benefits as well as uncertainties associated with every possible action (Dietz et al 2005;Pearce & Turner 1990). Welfare economics, which deals with allocation decisions affecting human well-being, assumes that such rational behaviour produces the best outcomes in terms of efficient resource allocation (Pearce & Turner 1990).…”

“…There is also significant overlap with sociology and political science (Dietz et al 2005). 'Value' in psychology generally refers to 'held values' (Lockwood 1999), defined as "desirable, transsituational goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in people's lives" (Schwartz 1996: 2).…”

Re-examining culture/conservation conflict: the view of anthropology of conservation through the lens of environmental ethics

“…At least three value bases for environmental concern can be distinguished: self-interest, humanistic altruism, and biospheric altruism (Merchant 1992;Stern and Dietz 1994;Dietz et al 2005). The self-interest basis of environmental concern originates from the rational actor model of individuals operating in the ''risk society'' (Giddens 2009).…”