Associations between environmental value orientations and landscape preferences

Why do group differences in landscape assessment exist? In the present paper, we explore the hypothesis that landscape preferences are associated with people’s environmental value orientations, operationalised according to Thompson and Barton’s [J. Environ. Psychol. 14 (1994) 199] distinctions between anthropocentric, ecocentric, and apathetic orientations toward the environment. Preferences for local landscapes and environmental value orientations were surveyed in a sample of the adult population of Røros, southern Norway. The highest preference was expressed for wildland scenes containing water, followed by cultural landscapes and traditional farm environments. Landscapes with elements of modern agricultural practises were the least preferred category. Significant positive correlations were found between the ecocentric environmental value orientation and a preference for wildlands with water, and for cultural landscapes. The anthropocentric value orientation correlated positively with a preference for farm environments, while environmental apathy was negatively associated with a preference for wildlands and cultural landscapes. The respondents agreed to ecocentric, but were neutral to anthropocentric statements. The findings indicate that the majority of the people in the area should be responsive to ecocentric arguments when development and conservation plans are presented.