Environmental
Values in
American
Culture
Kempton, Boster, & Hartley (1995)
The Gist
• Environmentalism based on beliefs, values, and
cultural models
– Organization of beliefs and values shared within a
culture or social group
• In-depth interviews and surveys with several
sectors of the public from extremes on both ends
of environmentalism with many in between
• Environmental values intertwined with core
American values
Theory Overview
• Two sets of cultural models
– Cultural models of nature
– Cultural models of weather and atmosphere
• Three sources of environmental values
– Religion/Spiritual
– Anthropocentric
– Biocentric
Cultural Models of Nature
• Nature is a limited resource
– Essentially a health concern
• Nature is balanced, interdependent, and
unpredictable
– Unpredictable chain rxn’s
– Humans shouldn’t interfere (nonintervention model)
• Models of society and nature
– Wealth and consumption are paramount values at
odds with environmental protection
– People are separated from nature
– Idealize environmentalism of primitive
people
Cultural Models of Weather & Atmosphere
• Global warming is
understood using prior
cultural models of:
– Pollution
– Ozone depletion
• Assimilate green house effect
into a model of ozone depletion
– Photosynthesis
– Seasonal temperature
variation
• Weather is affected by
human activities; we should
not tamper
Religious & Spiritual Values
• “It seems that divine creation is the closest
concept American culture provides to express
the sacredness of nature. Regardless of whether
one actually believes in biblical Creation, it is the
best vehicle we have to express this value”
(p. 92).
• Religion reinforces and justifies
environmental protection
Anthropocentric Values
• Concern for one’s descendents or future
generations (not just own) loom large in
thinking about environmental issues
– Tied to parental responsibility
• Utilitarian
• Aesthetic
Biocentric Values
• Humans are a part of nature
• Rights of a species to continue
– Species preservation > Ecosystems preservation
• Intrinsic rights of nature
Kempton, Boster, & Hartley’s
Cultural Models and Environmental Values
Cultural Models
Environmental Values
ENVIRONMENTALISM
Nature is a highly
interdependent system in a
balanced state, vulnerable to
unpredictable “chain reactions”
triggered by human
disturbances
Obligations to our
decedents
Humanity’s utilitarian
need for nature
Global warming is understood using
prior cultural models of pollution,
the ozone hole, and photosynthesis.
Cultural models are not wrong, but
are inappropriately applied to global
warming, leading to incorrect
inferences. Weather is considered
susceptible to human influence and
a majority notice warmer winters
Spiritual/religious
value of nature
Rights of nature in and
of itself
Application of Theory
• McMillan et al. (2004): Impact of a universitylevel environmental studies class on
students’ values
• Do students’ environmental values change
after taking course?
– 17 in-depth interviews; 44 completed
pretest/posttest surveys (30% response rate)
• Intrinsic rights of nature