Paradigmatic transition and environment: position of two age groups

Abstract

The way in which people perceive, represent and value the environment allows understanding behaviors that affect it. Thus, we sought to characterize the social representations of nature, environment and water, and theenvironmental beliefs of 133 young people and 100 mature adults. Two age groups’ data were compared in order toglimpse the evolution of ecological thinking between generations. By using the NEP Scale, we found a biocentric belief system for both age groups, with no statistically significant difference between them. The social representations, obtained through a questionnaire of free evocations, were also similar in both groups. However, we verified that the identification to the biocentric paradigm was not confirmed by the study of social representations, which showed both biocentric and anthropocentric elements. These contradictions suggest a gradual transition of paradigm, in which both worldviews coexist.

Keywords

• psicologia ambiental
• representação social
• atitudes
• meio ambiente