Towards a refined value typology for environmental psychology

Global environmental challenges existentially threaten not only the environment but also human health. To initiate the individual and societal changes needed to address these challenges effectively, change strategies need to be guided by an in-depth understanding of the psychological factors that influence environmentally relevant perceptions and behaviors. In environmental psychology, personal values have been identified as key antecedents of pro-environmental perceptions and behaviors. However, the dominant value approach in the field has three shortcomings that need to be addressed. First, the dominant value typologies appear to consider a limited number and conceptual range of value orientations. Second, the value orientations vary significantly in their conceptual distinctness and the range of specific goals they include. Third, some value orientations may have limited construct validity due to a mismatch between their operationalization and definitions. Our study addresses the first two shortcomings by developing a refined typology of environmentally relevant values based on a systematic literature review. We included 773 academic records and applied qualitative thematic analysis to synthesize the data. We identified 131 distinct values, which form 38 motivational types, referred to as value orientations. These were grouped into 12 higher-order value orientations that reflect overarching motivations: nature welfare, animal welfare, human welfare, temperance, conservatism, societal stability, in-group welfare, personal welfare, superiority, sensualism, flourishment and enlightenment. The proposed typology of environmentally relevant values extends the dominant value typologies in environmental psychology. Our work lays the foundation for a refined value approach, whose value orientations are expected to have greater explanatory power and provide more precise insights into the value underpinnings of environmentally relevant perceptions and behaviors.