Impacts of Religion on Environmental Worldviews: The Teton Valley Case

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Environmental worldviews are rooted in culture, and religion defines many cultures. While several studies have addressed the relationship between religion and environmental worldviews, few studies controlled for nonreligious regional culture and political affiliation. We addressed this gap with a case study in the Teton Valley of Idaho and Wyoming, USA. After controlling for demographic factors, environmental worldviews significantly related to being Mormon (member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), being Christian, not being affiliated with organized religion, political affiliation, and regional culture (n ¼ 401, F ¼ 22.71, R 2 ¼ .41). Environmental worldviews, however, were not related to religiosity. Those not affiliated with organized religion were most environmentally oriented, Mormon respondents were the least environmentally oriented, and Roman Catholics and other Christians fell in the middle. Longer term residents scored significantly lower than newcomers, and Republicans scored significantly lower than Independents, who scored significantly lower than Democrats. Worldviews, the set of narrative symbols humans use to explain the nature of reality (Greeley 1993), shape human interactions with the environment. Conserving the environment requires understanding the processes leading to environmental world-views. Worldviews emerge from a cultural milieu including religion, politics, science, place-based values, education, and ethnicity We owe a debt of gratitude to three anonymous reviewers and to A. Mauss, M. J. Peterson, and T. R. Peterson for invaluable insights and constructive criticism. Funding and support were provided by Michigan State University, the National Science Foundation, and the Budweiser Wildlife Conservation Scholarship. We thank A. Mertig for help with questionnaire design, and K. Vickery for her interviewing efforts. Most of all we thank the people of the Teton Valley for sharing their perspectives and homes with our research team. relationships between …