Dewitt et al 2016: A new tool to map the major worldviews in the Netherlands and USA, and explore how they relate to climate change
Dewitt et al 2016: A new tool to map the major worldviews in the Netherlands and USA, and explore how they relate to climate change
- 🎉 Create a proper worldview questionnaire and try it out with a representative sample in the Netherlands and the US.
Five dimensions of their worldview breakdown1:
- Ontology: nature of being and nature of the world
- Epistemology: how knowledge comes about
- Axiology: what is the "good life"
- Anthropology: humans role in the world
- Societal (vision): how society should be organized
Asides
- Have to use the climate change angle to motivate (and likely fund) the paper. Pure cultural evolution work would likely not get funded I suspect.
- 😬 Can't see any access to the raw data behind the paper (would be very interesting to e.g. see distributions rather than just means and to do some regression analysis)
Excerpts
Worldview definitions
| Traditional worldview | Modern worldview | Postmodern worldview | Integrative worldview | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontology | Religious/metaphysical monism. Reality as singular, transcendent. Universe as purposively constructed whole. God-created universe ex nihilo. Transcendent God/Creator is separate from profane world; dualism. Nature as embodiment of meaningful, imposed order (e.g. God’s creation). | Secular materialism. Reality as singular, immanent. Mechanistic universe brought about by random selection. Material reality devoid of meaning, intentionality, consciousness; dualism, disenchantment. Nature as instrumental, devoid of intrinsic meaning and purpose. Resource for exploitation. | Post-materialism. Reality as pluralistic, perspectival, constructed. Multiple cosmogonies/cosmogony as social construct Reality as discontinuous and fragmented, meaning as social construct; anti-essentialism. Nature as constructed through a plurality of cultural values, meanings, and interests. | Holism/integralism (unity in diversity). Reality as transcendent and immanent. Universe as evolving, creative manifestation of Source/Spirit. Outer and inner reality co-arising, interdependent; re-enchantment. Nature as intrinsically valuable. Frequently seen as divine force that humanity is part and expression of. |
| Epistemology | Naïve realism; emphasis on concrete-literal interpretations of religious doctrine (literalism, dogmatism). Religious/conventional authority (scripture, divine revelation, tradition). Implicit methodology Substantive rationality | (Post-)positivism; emphasis on reality as objectively knowable, (empiricism, reductionism, scientism). Secular authority (science, the state). Quantitative methods; methodological monism. Procedural rationality | Social constructivism; emphasis on reality as constructed (pluralism, relativism). Internalization of authority (e.g. moral, emotional, intuitive, artistic knowing) Qualitative methods; methodological pluralism Skeptical rationality? | Critical realism, pragmatism; emphasis on reality as approachable through integration of sources of knowledge Triangulation of authority (scientific, spiritual/religious/philosophical, and subjective knowing) Mixed methods; integrative pluralism Synthetic rationality? |
| Axiology | Traditional values (e.g. security, tradition, conformity, obedience, humility) Emphasis on community, family Pre-conventional morality? | Rational-secular, materialist values (e.g. power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation) Emphasis on independent individuality Conventional morality? | Self-expression, post-materialist values (e.g. openness to change, self-direction) Emphasis on unique individuality Postconventional morality? | Self-expression/self-transcendence values (e.g. universalism, self-actualization)? Emphasis on embedded, relational individuality Universal morality? |
| Anthropology | Humanity in managerial stewardship role vis-à-vis nature Prime purposes determined by larger order and social roles. Human being as sinful/fallen from grace. Dependent on religious/metaphysical authorities for salvation. Ethnocentric identity? | Humanity in promethean control over nature Prime purposes of a material, hedonistic nature. Human being as self-optimizing, independent being. Homo economicus. Sociocentric identity? | Humanity in cautious relationship to nature Prime purposes are found within, intrinsic. Human being as self-expressing, unique individual. Worldcentric identity? | Humanity in unity and synergy with nature Prime purposes found within, serving the larger whole (‘service through self-actualization’). Human being as evolutionary co-creator, with a vast—though generally unrealized—potential. Planetcentric identity? |
| Societal vision | Traditional societies, emphasis on (subsistence) farming. Traditional and religious authorities and values as source of solutions to societal and environmental problems. | Industrial societies, emphasis on mechanized modes of production (e.g. industrial/conventional agriculture). Technological optimism: science and technology as solutions to societal and environmental problems. | Post-industrial societies, emphasis on service economy and creative industries. Scepticism of status quo, idealism: mobilization of the public through revealing injustices as prime solution to societal and environmental problems. | Increasing emphasis on services, creative industries, and social/sustainable entrepreneurship. Integrative vision: emancipation of the public through consciousness growth and a synthesis of interests and perspectives as solutions to societal and environmental problems |
How they developed the scale
We used the Integrative Worldview Framework (De Witt & Hedlund, in press; Hedlund-de Witt, 2013a; Hedlund-de Witt et al., 2014) as theoretical background and blueprint for developing the worldview-scale. The IWF operationalizes the concept of worldview through distinguishing between five different aspects of worldviews (ontology, epistemology, axiology, anthropology, and societal vision), as well as four different categories of worldviews (traditional, modern, postmodern, and integrative).
Earlier work to explore
- Exploring inner and outer worlds: A quantitative study of worldviews, environmental attitudes, and sustainable lifestyles (2014) - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494413000856 (do some PCA here i think)
Footnotes
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see also 2013 article by Dewitt and Hedlund ### Towards an integral ecology of worldviews ↩
