Zusammenfassung. Geschützte Werte (GW) sind Werte, die von Individuen oder einer Gemeinschaft als absolut, unantastbar und nicht substituierbar angesehen werden. Da es bislang noch kein Messinstrument zur Erfassung von GW gibt, besteht das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit in der Entwicklung und ersten Validierung einer Geschützten Werte Skala (GWS). Die in Studie 1 durchgeführten Analysen zur Überprüfung der Skalen und der Modellgüte fallen zufrieden stellend aus. Im Sinne der diskriminativen Validität kann gezeigt werden, dass sich GW von wichtigen Einstellungen abgrenzen. Für die Validität spricht auch die Bestätigung mehrerer postulierter Gruppenunterschiede. Der in Studie 2 vorgenommene Vergleich zwischen zwei Extremgruppen (Befürworter und Gegner der Gentechnologie) ergibt zusätzliche Anhaltspunkte zur Validität und konzeptuellen Differenzierung zwischen GW und Einstellungswichtigkeit.

Earlier research has repeatedly shown that people tend to follow group norms when using common pool resources. The present commons dilemma study seeks to extend these findings with two inherently relevant concepts: First, the ecological efficiency of the group norm, and second, the physical distance between the actors involved. Physical distance was manipulated by administering a web-based commons dilemma task to participants in the laboratory versus participants in the Internet. Ecological efficiency was manipulated by giving participants feedback about an overusing or a conserving group norm while the pool was either big or small. Conformity effects were strongest when the perceived group norm was ecologically efficient and participants were physically closer. Moreover, the effect of physical distance was mediated by the importance a person attached to the group's behavior. When physically farther apart, individuals attached less importance to the group's behavior and, as a consequence, showed less conformity. The results are discussed in the light of previous commons dilemma research and social psychological theories, and consequences for natural resource management are reflected. Some common pool resources and the environmental problems associated with them are rooted on a local level (e.g., residential waste disposal or fresh water use), but others have a rather global dimension (e.g., air pollution or the greenhouse effect). Although local problems may often affect us more than global ones, both types of environmental problems are an integral part of our everyday life and local action is often relevant for global resources as

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