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Attitudes and Environmental Management
Author(s) -
Heberlein Thomas A.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1989.tb01532.x
Subject(s) - opposition (politics) , set (abstract data type) , plan (archaeology) , float (project management) , psychology , environmental resource management , engineering , computer science , political science , geography , environmental science , archaeology , politics , marine engineering , law , programming language
Attitude studies are useful for environmental managers because they provide (1) information about public support and beliefs, (2) information about goals necessary to set standards, and (3) information about the current and future behavior of relevant parties. Three cases are described to show how attitude studies can play a role in environmental management—helping to set user limits for float trips on the Colorado River, establish the feasibility of an earlier deer‐hunting season in northwestern Wisconsin, and develop a plan to clean up a polluted lake. Because of their utility, it is predicted that the demand for attitude studies as part of environmental management will increase. Information about specific attitudes and beliefs, based on actual experience, is most helpful, and experimental designs in field research can augment information from surveys. In spite of the attitudinal information, two of the projects described here were stopped by organized opposition of a particular interest group. Thus, simple user attitude studies are not sufficient, and a broader array of social science research on environmental management is needed to deal with such influences.