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An examination of how six reasons for valuing nature are endorsed and associated with pro-environmental behavior across 12 countries

Balanced samples from 12 countries (N = 12,000) were surveyed about their reasons for valuing nature and pro-environmental behaviors. Results showed that people were least likely to endorse moral-based reasons for valuing nature, as compared to five other reasons (wellbeing benefits, nature’s intrin...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Gainsburg, Izzy, Roy, Sukanya, Cunningham, Julia Lee
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10209929/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37230999
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34338-x
Descripción
Sumario:Balanced samples from 12 countries (N = 12,000) were surveyed about their reasons for valuing nature and pro-environmental behaviors. Results showed that people were least likely to endorse moral-based reasons for valuing nature, as compared to five other reasons (wellbeing benefits, nature’s intrinsic value, health benefits, economic value, identity-based reasons). However, moral- and identity-based reasons (relative to the other four reasons) for valuing nature were the strongest predictors of pro-environmental behavior across three different methods (correlations, linear mixed models, and relative importance analysis) and two pro-environmental behavior categories (consumer behavior and activism). In other words, the reasons for valuing nature most associated with pro-environmental behavior also garnered the weakest support, presenting a potential dilemma for those hoping to leverage values to promote pro-environmental behavior. We also identify a possible mechanism (awareness of one’s environmental impact) to explain why moral- and identity-based reasons for valuing nature best predict behavior. Finally, we examine between-country variability in the endorsement of the six reasons and the reasons’ associations with pro-environmental behaviors, and country-level factors that may explain between-country variability in these outcomes. We discuss these results in the context of broader literature that has focused on an intrinsic vs. instrumental valuation of nature dichotomy.