THE ROLE OF VALUES AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN JUDGMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DILEMMAS

In this article, we explore generally the extent to which individuals apply values and ethical principles in a consistent way across differe nt environmental ethical issues. In the first study, it was shown that the context in which one's values are assessed is important. Specific ally, values assessed in the typical abstract way, as guiding principl es in one's life, showed a different pattern of association with facto rs of environmental dilemmas than did values assessed with regard to t heir use as guiding principles for the environment. In the second stud y, respondents, who were experienced in making water allocation decisi ons, were asked to rank the importance of 16 ethical considerations as they applied to five different, current water allocation problems in Australia. The results showed that the importance ratings of the ethic al considerations were similar for all the water allocation case studi es. The results were discussed in terms of the effects of context on v alues/ethical criteria and environmental dilemmas.