Value Orientations to Explain Beliefs Related to Environmental Significant Behavior

TLDR

Environmental literature posits that egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric value orientations shape environmental beliefs and intentions, yet empirical support for distinguishing altruistic from biospheric values has been limited. The study reports three experiments to empirically distinguish egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric value orientations using an adapted instrument and to assess their unique relationships with environmental beliefs and behavioral intentions. The authors employed an adapted value instrument across three studies to test the distinctiveness of the three value orientations and their differential associations with environmental beliefs and intentions. The adapted value instrument proved reliable and valid, consistently distinguishing the three value orientations, and revealed that conflicting altruistic and biospheric goals uniquely predict proenvironmental intentions, underscoring its utility for linking values, beliefs, and intentions.

Abstract

In environmental literature it is argued that three different value orientations may be relevant for understanding environmental beliefs and intentions: egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric. Until now, the distinction between altruistic and biospheric value orientations has hardly been supported empirically. In this article, three studies are reported aimed to examine whether an egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric value orientation can indeed be distinguished empirically by using an adapted value instrument. Also, it is examined whether these value orientations are differently and uniquely related to general and specific beliefs and behavioral intention. Results provide support for the reliability and validity of the value instrument. All studies replicated the distinction into three value orientations, with sufficient internal consistency. Furthermore, when altruistic and biospheric goals conflict, they seem to provide a distinct basis for proenvironmental intentions. The value instrument could therefore be useful to better understand relationships between values, beliefs, and intentions related to environmentally significant behavior.