A cross‐cultural study of environmental belief structures in USA, Japan, Mexico, and Peru

Abstract

Throughout history, the way in which people conceive nature/human relationships has dramatically changed, and different cultures also have divergent notions regarding the role humans play in nature. In Western societies a “new environmental paradigm” (NEP) of ecological nature has apparently replaced the old “human exception paradigm” (HEP), which conceives of humans as being superior and apart from nature. Previous research has shown that, in those societies, a marked dichotomy exist between these two apparently contradictory paradigms, meaning that people who accept the NEP reject the HEP. Countries other than Western ones also exhibit a bias towards the ecological paradigm; however, their world‐views are not necessarily dualistic, since they may adhere to the NEP and, simultaneously, believe that human beings are “special.” This study compares world‐views in four different countries. Responses of 1358 undergraduates from USA, Japan, Mexico, and Peru to the HEP and the NEP scale were analysed to see if they confirmed three factors previously found: (1) a vision of separation from nature (HEP), (2) a necessary “balance” between human needs and nature preservation, and (3) the need to impose “limits” on the human impact on nature. This trifactorial structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. USA students exhibited two dimensions (HEP‐NEP) and the other samples showed the expected three factors, although they intercorrelated differentially, depending on the national sample. In all samples “balance” and “limits” were positively correlated. In the Peruvian and Japanese samples the HEP and “balance” were negatively correlated while the USA sample produced a negative covariance between HEP and NEP. In the Japanese sample HEP and “limits” were uncorrelated but in Peru these factors covaried negatively, while in the Mexican sample they were positively correlated. The HEP‐NEP two‐factor structure would seem to be limited to Western nations. More countries need to be measured.

Migration, Acculturation, and Environmental Values: The Case of Mexican Immigrants in Central Iowa

“…Analysis derived from such surveys often resorts to conjecture to explain the cultural roots of environmental values and is mostly mute on the question of how these values change in a multicultural context (Dietz, Fitzgerald, and Shwom 2005). Many studies see relatively fixed cultural traits, such as Chinese altruism or a Latino orientation toward the family, as the source of interethnic variation in environmental values (Cordell, Green, and Betz 2002;Bechtel et al 2006;Deng, Walker, and Swinnerton 2006). Rather than resort to such crude "essentialisms" (Robbins 2004, 198; see also Pulido 1998), we hope to show how environmental values are shaped by lived experience in place(s), which surely differ among ethnic groups but not because of differences in their basic character.…”

Analysis of Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors: An Exploratory Study With a Sample of Brazilian University Students

“…In these studies, negative correlations between ecocentric (NEP) and anthropocentric (HEP, Human Exemptionalism Paradigm) views in countries like Canada, Spain and the USA have been found, while positive correlations have been detected in countries like Brazil and Mexico, thereby suggesting that both dimensions, far from being opposed, may indeed be reconciled. For their part, Bechtel, Corral-Verdugo, Asai, and González--Riesle (2006) added an Asian culture to their study and looked into the structure of environmental beliefs in the USA, Mexico, Peru and Japan. They found that a dichotomic NEP-HEP structure was only corroborated among USA students.…”

The Structure and Coherence of the New Environmental Paradigm: Reconceptualizing the Dimensionality Debate

“…This tripart factor structure was then somewhat confirmed by Geller and Lasley (1985). Since that time, a number of studies have found that the NEP scale, in both the original and the revised versions, has two or more dimensions (e.g., Bechtel et al, 2006;Corral-Verdugo & Armendariz, 2000;Edgell & Nowell, 1989;Englis & Phillips, 2013;Fleury-Bahi et al, 2015;Furman, 1998;Gooch, 1995;Noe & Snow, 1990;Schuett & Ostergren, 2003;Woodworth et al, 2011).…”

“…For this reason, it is crucial to anticipate variation in the coherence of the NEP and study its causes. Several cross-national studies (e.g., Bechtel et al, 2006;Bechtel et al, 1999) use a comparative research design to demonstrate that cultural differences may influence the structure and belief constraint of the NEP. Similarly, Aoyagi-Usui et al (2003) and Heyd (2010) highlight the importance of examining cultural norms and traditions in terms of their impact on environmental values and beliefs.…”

“…Several studies (Bechtel et al, 2006;Bechtel et al, 1999) use the NEP scale as a measure of an environmental belief system and examine how culture may influence the structure of environmental beliefs in cross-national comparative research. Results from these studies show that, in general, the NEP in the United States tends to show a higher degree of coherence than elsewhere.…”