Environmental Value Orientations Research Articles

Pro-Environmental Behaviors and Environmental Value Orientation of Vocational College Students in China

Pro-Environmental Behaviors and Environmental Value Orientation of Vocational College Students in China

Who teaches place-based education: identifying relationships between environmental value orientation and pedagogical values

Place-based education (PBE) offers teachers a unique opportunity to increase engagement and academic outcomes while strengthening students’ connections to their environment and inspiring future conservation. In most instances, classroom teachers must independently choose to implement PBE, such as when discussing topics surrounding wildlife and the environment. Environmental values orientations of teachers may explain teachers’ implementation of PBE. Through thematic analysis of phenomenological interviews with 11 middle and high school science teachers in Colorado we identified their environmental value orientations. We found that teachers with predominantly mutualist environmental value orientations were associated with high levels of implementation. Our findings can inform professional development of teachers learning about the relationship between PBE and pro-environmental value ­orientations and behaviors among future generations.

Framing effectiveness of nature conservation ads: the influence of environmental value orientation and mental imagery

Framing effectiveness of nature conservation ads: the influence of environmental value orientation and mental imagery

Identifying key factors driving public opinion of salmon aquaculture

Salmon farming has become a controversial topic, with public opposition and conflicts challenging the sustainability of the sector. As a result, a deeper understanding of public perceptions and factors influencing opinions becomes critical for developing sustainable and socially acceptable aquaculture. Based on previous social acceptance literature, this research aimed to investigate the influence of potential motivators on opinion towards salmon aquaculture. In a case study of rural and urban Nova Scotians, 495 people provided their perceptions of salmon aquaculture. Moreover, geographical factors, socio-demographics, and contextual factors were investigated. Geographic differences in factors and attitudes across urban and rural groups suggest an important mediating influence of residence type (urban and rural) on opinion. Ordinal regression analysis found that opinion was primarily influenced by individual characteristics and perceptual variables, i.e., age, environmental value orientation, salmon consumption patterns, perception of risks, and trust in government. Of minor importance were exposure and knowledge of salmon farming. The model indicates respondents who are older, have strong relational values with the ocean, high perception of risks and are distrustful of government are more likely to express negative attitudes towards aquaculture. This study emphasizes the need to recognize that opinion is nuanced, and deeply socially situated, based not only on individual trade-offs between economic benefits and environmental risks, but also on environmental values and relationships and trust regarding how aquaculture is managed. Further, this study highlights the importance of building public trust with decision-makers, along with continued mitigation of risks, in fostering more socially acceptable salmon aquaculture.

Champions and Traditional Technocrats: The Role of Environmental Value Orientation in Stormwater Management

AbstractThe paper examines relationships between stormwater control measure (SCM) priorities and environmental value orientations among stormwater managers in Cleveland, Ohio and Denver, Colorado, metro regions with contrasting environmental conditions and policy contexts. While studies show that governance explains differences in broad SCM priorities, less is known about what motivates individual “street level bureaucrats” who influence decisions at the project level. Drawing from cognitive social science perspectives, this study surveyed stormwater professionals (n = 185) about primary and co‐benefit SCM priorities and environmental value orientation. Results revealed different primary SCM priorities by region: Cleveland and Denver respondents prioritized quantity and quality goals, respectively, reflecting regional context. Co‐benefit priorities correlated to two environmental value orientation clusters — “Traditional Technocrats” with relatively anthropocentric orientations and “Champions” with relatively ecocentric orientations — who were equally abundant in both regions. Findings suggest that environmental value orientation influences co‐benefit priorities, which may have implications for project level articulation of policy.

Organic foods purchase intention, food safety information, and information on organic foods: Value orientations as a mediator

We explored the relationships of food safety information, information on organic foods, and Chinese consumers' purchase intention, with value orientations proposed as a mediator. The research model was based on the stimulus–organism–response theoretical model and regulatory focus theory. Data were collected using a structured survey with 206 consumers of organic foods. We employed structural equation modelling for data analysis. The results show that information on organic food and information on food safety were significantly associated with environmental value orientation. Organic food information was significantly associated with both health value orientation and hedonic value orientation. In addition, information on food safety, information on organic food, environmental orientation, and hedonic orientation were all significantly associated with purchase intention. Moreover, both environmental orientation and hedonic orientation exerted mediating effects in the relationships between organic food information and consumers' purchase intention. The results provide novel and valuable insights for understanding organic consumption and offer guidance for the development and promotion of China's organic food industry.

The Role of Share Repurchases for Firms’ Social and Environmental Sustainability

This article embarks on ethical trade-offs at the sustainability/finance interface by contrasting shareholders’ interest in short-term financial returns with society’s interest in counteracting ecological and social grievances. Scrutinizing share repurchases, we investigate a firm’s communicated sustainability orientation (i.e., its environmental and social value orientation) as well as its environmental and social sustainability performance. Our results are based on a large-scale panel dataset of 491 U.S. firms observed from 2004 to 2016. The dataset combines share buyback data with sustainability orientation scores from shareholder letters and sustainability performance ratings. The econometric models suggest no association between social value orientation and repurchase volumes, but a significantly negative relationship between environmental value orientation and buybacks in a cubic form. Executive stock options partially attenuate this relationship. Share repurchases in turn negatively affect future environmental and social performance. This study grasps the consequences of firms’ short-term shareholder satisfaction and discusses its ethical implications in the context of firms’ contribution to sustainable development, thereby providing important insights to the business ethics discourse.

The Influence of Environmental Value Orientations on the Overall Scuba Diving Experience within a Marine Protected Area

Makumbirofa, S.D. and Saayman, A., 2022. The influence of environmental value orientations on the overall scuba diving experience within a marine protected area. Journal of Coastal Research, 38(1), 168–181. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This paper reports on the findings of a discrete choice experiment that aims to value the different attributes of the scuba diving experience in the Portofino Marine Protected Area (MPA), taking into account the various environmental value orientations of the divers. The attributes were divided into five different qualities—water visibility, diver crowding, species diversity, species number, and the willingness to pay—whereas the general awareness of consequences scale measured value orientations. Using a self-administered choice questionnaire, divers were asked to state their choice from different sets of attributes. A sample of 556 completed questionnaires were collected, with each respondent answering two random choice cards representing a choice between two different sets of attributes. A multinomial logit model was used to estimate scuba divers' willingness to pay for the various environmental attributes. The findings show that the most valued attribute for scuba divers in the Portofino MPA is underwater visibility followed by a less crowded dive site. The divers are predominantly egoistic in their value orientation, indicating that pro-environmental behaviour and intentions stem from self-interest. Regulations and education programmes that emphasise direct benefits to divers' diving experience would therefore encourage pro-environmental behaviour.

THE SYSTEM OF ADDITIONAL ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION WITH USE OF IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES AS A FACTOR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The article scientifically describes the principles and stages of designing a system of additional environmental edu- cation using immersive learning technologies. The projected system is aimed at forming the individual activity of schoolchildren in solving environmental problems on the basis of social, scientific and aesthetic axiological systems that determine the content of environmental-biotechnical, environmental-research, environmental-aesthetic activi- ties. The main result of the implementation of this system is the ability of students to plan their activities to study independently, preserve and creatively transform the environment using traditional and immersive technologies. Immersive learning technologies are considered by the authors as a tool for the development of environmental and social responsibility of society. The results of an experimental test of the effectiveness of the culture-creative system of additional environmental education using traditional and immersive learning technologies are presented, which showed the high efficiency of the influence of innovative forms, means and methods of additional environmental education in the formation of environmental value orientations of schoolchildren.

They Are Just Light Bulbs, Right? The Personality Antecedents of Household Energy-Saving Behavioral Intentions among Young Millennials and Gen Z.

Small individual behaviors such as household energy-saving behaviors may have major environmental impacts. Individuals may combat global warming by replacing traditional light bulbs with more energy-efficient light bulbs such as LED bulbs, which save electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Guided by the integrative model of behavioral prediction, the current study explored the effects of five individual personality differences (i.e., consideration of future consequences, environmental value orientation, individualism and collectivism, regulatory focus, and self-monitoring) on young Millennials’ and Gen Z’s attitudes, perceived norms, perceived control, and intention to switch light bulbs. The results of a survey indicated that environmental value orientation, individualism and collectivism, regulatory focus, and self-monitoring all significantly predicted attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived control, which predicted behavioral intention. The findings suggested the complex psychological nuance of environmental protection behaviors, even among the “greenest” generations. Implications and directions for future studies were discussed.

Environmental values of California winegrape growers and the use of barn owl nest boxes as a tool for integrated pest management

Synthetic pesticides from agriculture pose threats to biodiversity, and the adoption of alternative pest management is vital to meet rising crop demands while protecting native species. For example, the use of nest boxes for barn owls (Tyto furcata and T. alba) may help control rodent pests and reduce the use of rodenticides. However, the environmental perceptions of farmers and how receptive they are to alternative pest management practices remains uncertain. Traditionally, agricultural policies and programs have focused largely on the economic self-interest of farmers, but these narrow approaches have proven insufficient to describe and predict conservation behaviors, and the study of environmental value orientations (EVOs) may better explain farmers’ adoption of novel wildlife-friendly practices. The study of EVOs can help identify people as “mutualists”, meaning those who value the environment for its own sake, and “utilitarians,” meaning those who value the environment for the services it can provide. We surveyed 71 California winegrape growers in order to better understand how their underlying environmental values relate to the use of barn owl boxes and other sustainable practices. Overall, most winegrape growers had mutualist value orientations (64%). However, there was a disconnect between the use of barn owl boxes and EVOs, with most respondents (80%) reporting the use of owl boxes regardless of underlying values. This opens the door for future research to examine whether this is true of other wildlife-friendly farming practices.

Pengaruh Value Orientation dan Personality terhadap New Environmental Paradigm Siswa

The development of paradigm from anthropocentric to new environmental paradigm is necessary. Students have to possess the new environmental paradigm in order to protect the environment. Students new environmental paradigm can be affected by several factors such as value orientation and personality. This study aimed to determine the effect of value orientation and personality on the new environmental paradigm that students have. This study was hold in a first term of 2019/2020 school year at SMA Negeri 4 Kota Bekasi. The method used is the survey with quantitative-causal causal approach and path analysis. The sample is 95 students of XI MIPA which selected randomly. There were three instruments used for measuring new environmental paradigm, value orientation and personality with reability of 0.691, 0.809, and 0.864. As a result of study, personality is suitable as mediator of variables between value orientation and new environmental paradigm.

Cognitive and demographic drivers of attitudes toward using genetic engineering to restore American chestnut trees

This article explored attitudes toward using genetic engineering (GE) for restoring American chestnut (AC) trees, and cognitive and socio-demographic factors related to these attitudes. Questionnaires were completed by a random representative sample of the US public (n = 278) and a purposive sample of forest interest groups (FIG) such as scientists and managers (n = 195). Results showed somewhat positive attitudes toward all three GE applications (change existing AC genes, add genes from distantly related organism to AC, add oxalate oxidase [OxO] gene from bread wheat to AC) for mitigating chestnut blight (CB) and restoring AC trees. FIGs were more aware of CB, had more favorable attitudes, and perceived greater benefits and lower risks of these GE uses. Perceived benefits and risks were among the strongest drivers of attitudes for both groups, with environmental benefits the most strongly related to attitudes toward all three GE uses for the public sample and two of the three uses for the FIGs. Benefits and risks to humans, general environmental value orientations, specific value orientations toward forests, trust in agencies, awareness about CB, and socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., age, income, education, political orientation, forestry involvement, residential proximity to forests) were not as strongly related to these attitudes. These findings can inform research on reactions to using GE for conservation, and enable organizations to effectively communicate about using emerging technologies (e.g., GE) for addressing natural resource challenges.

Immersive and cultural transformation of the system of additional education as a tool for the development of environmental and social responsibility of the society

The article scientifically substantiates the cultural and creative concept of additional environmental education, as a methodological basis for the formation and development of environmental and social responsibility, which involves the development of four levels of value orientations of students: reproductive, heuristic, creative. The concept is aimed at the formation of the individual activity of students in solving environmental problems on the basis of social, scientific and aesthetic axiological systems that determine the content of ecological-biotechnical, ecological-research, ecological-aesthetic activities. The main result of the implementation of this concept is the ability of students to plan their activities for the study, preservation and creative transformation of the environment independently, using traditional and immersive technologies. Scientists have designed a cultural and creative system of additional environmental education for students using immersive learning technologies, which is considered as a tool for the development of environmental and social responsibility of society. The article presents the results of an experimental test of the effectiveness of the cultural and creative system of additional environmental education using traditional and immersive learning technologies, which has shown the high effectiveness of the influence of innovative forms, means and methods of additional environmental education in the formation of environmental value orientations of students.

The impact of advertising creativity, warning-based appeals and green dispositions on the attentional effectiveness of environmental advertisements

Accompanying the growing call for ecological sustainability, environmental advertising is playing an increasingly important role in green marketing to foster environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior. The present study examined the impact of two factors on people’s selective attention to green advertisements: advertising creativity (by comparing creative vs. standard advertisements) and appeal type (by comparing warning-based vs. vision-based appeals). The study also investigated the association between advertising effectiveness and individual differences in levels of green dispositions, including environmental concern and value orientation. To explore these issues the study employed a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation paradigm to measure the magnitude of the “attentional blink” arising from people attending to environmental advertisements of varying creativity and appeal type. Findings revealed a significant attentional blink effect for environmental advertising (indicative of heightened selective attention) that was greater for creative advertisements than standard advertisements. A significant association was also found between the magnitude of the attentional blink and dispositional differences in environment-related altruistic value. Results extend previous findings relating to the attentional blink as an index of advertising effectiveness, and shed light on the importance for green marketing of advertising creativity, advertising appeal and environmental value.

Understanding the human dimensions of managing overabundant charismatic wildlife in Australia

Management of charismatic, locally overabundant, wildlife such as koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) and kangaroos (Macropus spp.) has led to public outcry on multiple occasions. While this public opinion has been influencing decision-making, evidence on what the general public thinks to support this decision-making has been largely lacking. Here we quantified the opinions (n = 1,148) of a representative sample of the Australian public on the acceptability of a range of management options for managing overabundant populations of native koalas, kangaroos and the introduced feral horses (Equus caballus). Our survey also measured environmental value orientations (introducing a new ‘animalistic’ dimension to the widely used biospheric-altruistic-egoistic orientations scale) and beliefs about human- wildlife relationships to determine drivers of acceptability. Lastly, we examined the effect of providing ecological information on acceptability by randomly selecting half the koala respondents to receive additional information on the impacts of koala overabundance. We found significant differences in the acceptability of different management options within and across species. While the public understood the need for intervention, lethal control options such as culling were generally considered unacceptable in koalas, but acceptable in kangaroos. The acceptability of culling koalas increased with the provision of information, but remained unacceptable overall. Both values and beliefs were useful in explaining the acceptability of different management options. Empirical evidence of public opinion such as that presented here will aid decision-makers in engaging the public and reduce conflict by revealing the basis of opinion in people's values and beliefs, leading to better management decisions and conservation outcomes.

Public Perceptions of Energy Scarcity and Support for New Energy Technologies: A Western U.S. Case Study

This study examines public concern for energy security and support for public investment in new energy technologies. Using household survey data from the western U.S. states of California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, socio-demographic characteristics, environmental values, and policy relevant knowledge are analyzed as drivers of energy security and technology investment orientations. Findings suggest that a majority of respondents in each state believe that not enough money is being spent on energy research, that the country has insufficient energy resources, and that new technologies can support future energy security. Multivariate analyses indicate that some socio-demographic variables (e.g., gender and education), ideology, and environmental value orientations also have an impact on energy security orientations and support for technology investment.

Our Environmental Value Orientations Influence How We Respond to Climate Change.

People variably respond to global change in their beliefs, behaviors, and grief (associated with losses incurred). People that are less likely to believe in climate change, adopt pro-environmental behaviors, or report ecological grief are assumed to have different psycho-cultural orientations, and do not perceive changes in environmental condition or any impact upon themselves. We test these assumptions within the context of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), a region currently experiencing significant climate change impacts in the form of coral reef bleaching and increasingly severe cyclones. We develop knowledge of environmental cultural services with the Environmental Schwartz Value Survey (ESVS) into four human value orientations that can explain individuals’ environmental beliefs and behaviors: biospheric (i.e., concern for environment), altruistic (i.e., concern for others, and intrinsic values), egoistic (i.e., concern for personal resources) and hedonic values (i.e., concern for pleasure, comfort, esthetic, and spirituality). Using face-to-face quantitative survey techniques, where 1,934 residents were asked to agree or disagree with a range of statements on a scale of 1–10, we investigate people’s (i) environmental values and value orientations, (ii) perceptions of environmental condition, and (iii) perceptions of impact on self. We show how they relate to the following climate change responses; (i) beliefs at a global and local scale, (ii) participation in pro-environmental behaviors, and (iii) levels of grief associated with ecological change, as measured by respective single survey questions. Results suggest that biospheric and altruistic values influenced all climate change responses. Egoistic values were only influential on grief responses. Perception of environmental change was important in influencing beliefs and grief, and perceptions of impact on self were only important in influencing beliefs. These results suggest that environmental managers could use people’s environmental value orientations to more effectively influence climate change responses toward environmental stewardship and sustainability. Communications that target or encourage altruism (through understanding and empathy), biospherism (through information on climate change impacts on the environment), and egoism (through emphasizing the benefits, health and wellbeing derived from a natural resource in good condition), could work.

Social and environmental preferences: measuring how people make tradeoffs among themselves, others, and collective goods

Social preferences like social value orientation are considered a promising solution to social dilemmas, such as mitigating anthropogenic climate change. However, evidence on the relationship between social preferences and environmental concerns is mixed, possibly because these constructs have commonly been measured by distinct methods that do not facilitate direct comparisons. We address this gap by introducing an incentivized preference-based measurement approach, extending a subject’s concerns for the wellbeing of others to a subject’s willingness to support environmental and humanitarian endeavors, based on a simple social preferences utility function. In this measurement approach, subjects make resource allocation choices with real consequences and the design ensures comparability of different revealed preferences (i.e., people’s willingness to make tradeoffs between themselves and others via donations to NGOs supporting different environmental and social causes). We then use this measurement method in an exploratory fashion to consistently assess preferences for environmental and humanitarian concerns in a laboratory experiment. We find that social and environmental value orientations are robustly interrelated, and further that people are generally more willing to pay to benefit people in need, compared to abstract environmental causes. We conclude that interventions to nudge people towards proenvironmental behavior will have a greater impact if human suffering resulting from global climate change is made more salient.

Will Millennials save the world? The effect of age and generational differences on environmental concern

Are younger people, defined by age, or younger generations, defined by cohort-level measures, more concerned about declines in environmental health when compared to their older counterparts within the United States? Related, are these same people more willing to support policy actions aimed at preventing future losses when compared to older adults? In spite of reporting by the U.S. popular press about the heightened environmental consciousness of Millennials, prior research offers conflicting answers. Scholarship focusing on age effects suggests that the answer to both questions is yes due to the dampening of environmental concern and action in older adults. More recent applied research on climate related risks and risk management options, by contrast, suggest that the answer to both questions is no, and that there is no difference in climate concern and risk mitigation between younger and older adults. In an attempt to disentangle these contradictory viewpoints, we undertook a study in which respondents in the United States characterized by age and generational cohort were presented with small and large hypothetical losses due to climate change. These same participants were then asked to indicate their support for future policy actions aimed at stemming these environmental losses. Overall, our data does not indicate that younger generations experience potential losses as more acute than older generations; neither age nor generational cohort correlated with the perceived severity of environmental losses nor support for future actions to prevent them. More robust predictors of both dependent variables were environmental value orientations (biospherism) and self-reported political orientation.