Collaborative Research: Cultural Models, Values, and Networks in Environmental Decisions

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The research analyzes the interaction of knowledge, behaviors and values in environmental decision making. Data are collected from two sites where Native American and majority culture populations share a habitat but conflict over resource use: the Wolf River area of Wisconsin and the Lowland Maya forest region of Guatemala. Studies integrate formal modeling techniques from psychology, anthropology and sociology to show that: (1) people share cultural models of the environment to a surprisingly detailed degree; (2) these mental models inform and predict actual behaviors, with measurable ecological consequences; and (3) individual and cultural differences in models are motivated by different patterns of resource valuation. Research findings are expected to establish: (4) a first approximation of ecological cognition across cultures, (5) a cognitive dimension to stimulate new research on how people decide to manage common resources; and (6) a comprehensive basis for conflict-resolution negotiation that involves understanding the relations between environmental cognitions, behaviors and values.