Empathizing With Nature: The Effects of Perspective Taking on Concern for Environmental Issues - Statistical Data Included

Journal of Social Issues, Fall, 2000 by P. Wesley Schultz

The present research builds on the theories of both Stern and Dietz (1994) and Batson and his colleagues (Batson, 1994; Batson, Batson, et al., 1995). Both theories suggest that environmental concerns (which may also serve as motives for behavior) may be clustered around common themes. Following Stern and Dietz (1994), I propose that there are sets of valued objects that are directly linked with environmental concerns. These concerns are based on the negative consequences that could result for valued objects, and these valued objects can be classified as self, other people, or other living things. I refer to these concerns as egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric. Note that I am avoiding the "isms" (e.g., biospherism), because this implies a broad worldview rather than specific attitudes of concern.

I do not assume that these concerns are independent from one another. Instead, I propose that objects are valued because of their perceived relation to self and that egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric concerns reflect varying levels of the inclusiveness of an individual's notion of self (Schultz, 2000). That is, the types of concern for environmental problems that an individual holds are fundamentally linked to the degree to which he or she includes other people and nature within his or her cognitive representations of self. Although a variation of this position was suggested in Dunlap and Van Liere's (1978) more sociological New Environmental Paradigm theory, the theoretical linkages between this notion and current research on environmental concern have not been made. Such a conceptualization offers a broad perspective that could potentially integrate some of the existing research on environmental attitudes and behaviors.

I propose that environmental concern is tied to a person's notion of self and the degree to which people define themselves as independent, interdependent with other people, or interdependent with all living things. From this perspective, concern for environmental issues is an extension of the interconnectedness between two people (Bragg, 1996; Weigert, 1997). We can be interconnected with other people, or more generally, we can be interconnected with all living things. Indeed, the nonscientific literature is replete with references to being "in touch with," "connected with," or "at one with" nature (Hertsgaard, 1999; Nabhan & Trimble, 1994), and stories reflecting an individual's relationship with aspects of the natural world are common across many cultures (cf. Elder & Wong, 1994). People who define themselves as relatively independent from other people and from the natural environment are egoists. They do not view themselves as interconnected with other people or with the natural environment, and so for th em, concern for environmental issues will be motivated by reward for the self or the avoidance of harmful consequences (i.e., the rational-choice model prevails). In contrast, environmental concern among people who view themselves as interconnected with others will be based on a desire to gain rewards for people (both specific individuals and people in general) or to avoid harmful consequence for other people. Finally, environmental concern among people who define themselves as part of the biosphere will be based on a desire to gain rewards for all living things or to avoid harmful consequences for the biosphere.