| The main purpose of this study was to determine what types of environmental moral reasoning (i.e., egocentric/anthropocentric or biocentric) are regarded as most salient among young adults in making a decision to act in an environmentally-sensitive manner while engaged in four separate outdoor recreation activities (i.e., hiking, picnicking, fishing, lake swimming). Additionally, this research seeks to (a) determine whether a person's type of environmental moral reasoning differs depending on the outdoor recreation context (i.e., developed or undeveloped), (b) examine whether differences exist in the types of moral reasons chosen as most important among females and males, and (c) determine whether the type of environmental moral reasoning most important in one's decision making is predictive of one's likelihood to act in an environmentally-sensitive manner. A series of subquestions addressed the influence of family and peer environmental values and behavior, level of experience in outdoor recreation activities, and gender in young adults' type of environmental moral reasoning and behavioral intentions. This exploratory study utilized a non-experimental cross-sectional design involving a convenience sample of 233 participants. A series of t-tests were conducted to determine whether biocentric or egocentric/anthropocentric types of environmental moral reasoning were more important in problem-solving an environmental moral dilemma and whether the relative importance of the two types of reasoning varied dependent upon the "perceived naturalness" of the environment. Results indicated that overall, egocentric/anthropocentric reasoning was rated significantly more important than biocentric reasoning in resolving an environmental moral dilemma. For the "developed" scenarios, respondents rated egocentric/anthropocentric reasoning significantly higher than biocentric reasoning. Results also suggest that females attribute significantly higher levels of both biocentric and egocentric/anthropocentric reasoning than males across all four scenarios. For two of the four scenarios (fishing and lake swimming), respondents selecting a biocentric moral reason as their most important reason in problem-solving an environmental moral dilemma were more likely to act in an environmentally-sensitive manner. The study also yielded results suggesting that an individual's family's environmental values and behavior were related to stronger forms of biocentric environmental moral reasoning. On the other hand, one's peer's environmental values and behaviors did not have a significant effect on environmental moral reasoning. This study provides further empirical support for expanding the conceptualization of moral reasoning as involving more than just considerations of human interests and highlights the significance of outdoor recreation activities as a context for confronting environmental moral dilemmas as well as potentially promoting the development of various forms of environmental moral reasoning. |
