The Nature of Symbolic Beliefs and Environmental Behavior in a Rural Setting

Abstract

The correspondence between positively held beliefs about the environment and consistent environmental behavior is often tenuous. Many environmental beliefs have the characteristics of symbolic beliefs. Symbolic beliefs, reflecting what the belief objects represent for individual identity and values, provide social identification or self-expressive value functions for individuals. Symbolic beliefs are more abstract than instrumental beliefs and are less rooted in reality. In a research study of beliefs about environmental behavior related to rural land management, symbolic beliefs and instrumental beliefs were identified. Symbolic environmental beliefs were reflected in property holders claiming environmental benefits for behaviors primarily determined by more tangible, instrumental purposes. Decreasing proximity to the location of an environmental problem increased the instability of perceptions of the problem. It is likely that the more remote the belief object, the more symbolic the belief.