Water, Air, Fire, and Earth

Abstract

This study contributes to our understanding of the origins and development of the human relationship with nature. The authors interviewed 120 participants (aged approximately 10 years, 5 months; 13 years, 6 months; 16 years, 7 months; and 19 years, 4 months) in Lisbon, Portugal, about environmental moral issues that involved water pollution, air pollution, forest fires, and logging. Results showed that participants conceived of polluting their localwaterway as a violation of a moral obligation. Participants’ justifications for these and other evaluations included both anthropocentric appeals (e.g., to personal interests, human welfare, and aesthetics) and biocentric appeals (e.g., that nature has intrinsic value or rights). Participants’ conceptions of living in harmony with nature showed a developmental trend. Finally, cross-cultural comparisons with studies conducted in the United States and the Brazilian Amazon support theproposition that therearesubstantial similarities in the environmental moral reasoning of young people across diverse cultures.