The Relationship between the Conception of Nature and Environmental Valuation

Yamane Nagao, Ayano Nishikori and Tomoko Imoto
Additional contact information
Yamane Nagao: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 9808572, Japan
Ayano Nishikori: Former Student of Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, Sendai 9808572, Japan
Tomoko Imoto: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 9808572, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-16

Abstract: As individuals’ relationships with nature become more diverse, so do their conceptions of nature. In this study, the image of nature and derived feelings are defined as the conception of nature. This study aimed to identify the conceptions of nature held by individuals and their influence on environmental valuation. The number of respondents who imagined natural forests when they heard the word “nature” was the highest (58%), followed by those who imagined Satoyama (31%). The factor analysis extracted five feelings toward the image of nature: care, oneness, aversion, mystery, and restorativeness. These feelings differed depending on the image of nature conjured up by individuals. Respondents who imagined natural forests and Satoyama had a higher sense of care, causing higher willingness-to-pay for forest conservation. These results revealed that the image of nature differed from person to person, contrary to previous studies where nature was regarded as predominantly represented by vegetation. Feelings for the image of nature also differed. It can be concluded that an individuals’ conception of nature influences their environmental valuation.

Keywords: conception of nature; image of nature; feeling toward nature; willingness-to-pay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12683/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12683/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12683-:d:680546

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().