Expanding the Environmental Value Scale: Understanding how Eudaimonia and Hedonia Influence Conservation Behavior

Abstract

Protected areas harbor ecologically diverse ecosystems, are imperative for human well-being, serve as vestiges of cultural heritage and attract tourism. How and why protected areas are valued by people is important because people’s social values serve as motivators for conservation and environmental stewardship. However, most research attention is focused on quantifying the economic and ecological values of places. Social values, although underrepresented in conservation research and practice, can provide valuable insight on whether people will support changes in conservation policy which can highlight different preferences and visions for the future.

Previously, only egoistic values, focused on concerns for satisfying one’s own interests, as well as altruistic and biospheric values, focused on concern for human and non-human species, had been explored. However, recent literature argues that hedonia and eudaimonia, which measure one’s desire for short-term versus long-term pleasure attainment, are integral for explaining environmental concern and behavior (1,2). Although these value metrics have been discussed in previous research and carry relevance for decision-makers, no studies to date have empirically tested the relationships among all five value dimensions to better understand the factors that drive conservation behavior.

Using on-site visitor survey data from Denali National Park (AK, USA; n=667), we tested a five-dimensional environmental value scale. Using latent profile analysis to examine visitors’ perceived qualities of places and intended conservation behaviors, four distinct classes were identified based on environmental values. Consistent with previous research, we observed that respondents who were younger, more educated and had higher incomes held stronger environmental values and behavioral intentions. Additionally, we found that strongest values varied across classes but that egoistic values were the consistently weak across all classes. Finally, our study suggests that even individuals with strong environmental values were less willing to engage in social environmentalism (i.e. volunteering) and environmental stewardship (i.e. donating money) across all classes than they were in conservation lifestyle behaviors (i.e. recycling or buying eco-friendly products). Our findings advance the conceptualization of values as motivators for conservation behavior and provide new insight on how to frame messages that align with multidimensional value structures.

1. Steg L., Perlaviciute G., Van der Werff E., & Lurvink J. (2014). The significance of hedonic values for environmentally relevant attitudes, preferences, and actions. Environment and behavior, 46(2), 163-192.

2. van den Born R. J., Arts B., Admiraal J., Beringer A., Knights P., Molinario E., ... & Vivero-Pol J. (2017). The missing pillar: Eudemonic values in the justification of nature conservation. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 1-16.