Environment, values, and policy-making: A cross-cultural study

This dissertation explores the cultural bases for environmental concern using a comparative design based upon qualitative interviews in Germany and Japan. I replicated a study conducted by Kempton, Boster, and Hartley (1995) and compared my findings with theirs. The technological infrastructures in these three nations are highly similar and, hence, the environmental problems they face also are parallel. The countries are industrial democracies, although the political systems differ in detail. The three nations have very different cultural lineages, especially with regard to values and religion. Consequently, results from the data collected in Germany and Japan triangulated with the findings of the Kempton et al. data analyses for the United States and give a cross-cultural comparison. Qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted with members of the general public, autoworkers, clergy, environmental journalists, and government officials in both Germany and Japan. The subsequent analyses supports recently developed theories of environmental concern, especially those that focus on basic values and religion and cross-cultural convergence. This study confirms shared cultural a model of environmental values even in different countries. However, the importance of the respective cultural lineages also became apparent when examining mental and cultural models of conduct. While values in the three countries may not differ substantially the perception of responsibility and duty as well as the ability to mobilize the public and to promote societal changes diverge widely.