Differences in environmental orientation among homeowners

Responses to a contingent valuation (CV) survey were used to examine how homeowners distinguished among five environmental orientations and how demographic characteristics, political outlook, and perception of environmental quality related to particular orientations. High percentages of homeowners identified at least somewhat with all environmental orientations, but to a lesser degree with those that imply active use of the environment, strong ideological commitment, or willingness to sacrifice or make tradeoffs for environmental quality. Environmental orientations related to demographic characteristics, political outlook, and perception in ways that generally are consistent with existing hypotheses. The conclusions suggest that environmental orientations can be conceptualized on a continuum ranging from egoistic to biospheric.