Measuring Biotechnology Employees’ Ethical Attitudes towards a Controversial Transgenic Cattle Project: The Ethical Valence Matrix

What is the relationship between biotechnology employees’ beliefs about the moral outcomes of a controversial transgenic research project and their attitudes of acceptance towards the project? To answer this question, employees (n=466) of a New Zealand company, AgResearch Ltd., were surveyed regarding a project to create transgenic cattle containing a synthetic copy of the human myelin basic protein gene (hMBP). Although diversity existed amongst employees’ attitudes of acceptance, they were generally: in favor of the project, believed that it should be allowed to proceed to completion, and that it is acceptable to use transgenic cattle to produce medicines for humans. These three items were aggregated to form a project acceptance score. Scales were developed to measure respondents’ beliefs about the moral outcomes of the project for identified stakeholders in terms of the four principles of common morality (benefit, non-harm, justice, and autonomy). These data were statistically aggregated into an Ethical Valence Matrix for the project. The respondents’ project Ethical Valence Scores correlated significantly with their project acceptance scores (r=0.64, p<0.001), accounting for 41% of the variance in respondents’ acceptance attitudes. Of the four principles, non-harm had the strongest correlation with attitude to the project (r=0.59), followed by benefit and justice (both r=0.54), then autonomy (r=0.44). These results indicate that beliefs about the moral outcomes of a research project, in terms of the four principles approach, are strongly related to, and may be significant determinants of, attitudes to the research project. This suggests that, for employees of a biotechnology organization, ethical reasoning could be a central mechanism for the evaluation of the acceptability of a project. We propose that the Ethical Valence Matrix may be used as a tool to measure ethical attitudes towards controversial issues, providing a metric for comparison of perceived ethical consequences for multiple stakeholder groups and for the evaluation and comparison of the ethical consequences of competing alternative issues or projects. The tool could be used to measure both public and special interest groups’ ethical attitudes and results used for the development of socially responsible policy or by science organizations as a democratizing decision aid to selection amongst projects competing for scarce research funds.     

“Is this really a police station?”: Police department exteriors and judgments of authority, professionalism, and approachability

This study examined the relationship between exteriors of police department facilities and participants’ ratings of the buildings’ authority, professionalism, and approachability. After a pilot study, research was conducted with 122 participants who were undergraduate students from a small, liberal arts college in the Northeast. On each of three characteristics (authority, professionalism, and approachability), participants rated 16 color images of police departments located in the United States. The façade ratings for each characteristic were then categorized into factors through factor analyses. There were three factors for authority (Ineffectual, Strong, and Outdated); three for professionalism (Unskilled, Non-traditional, and Governmental); and four for approachability (Uninviting, Accessible, Public, and Impenetrable). The results were compared to participants’ scores on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (Altemeyer, 1981) and the Social Dominance Orientation scale (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). Although the primary goal for the study was to determine whether there are consistent responses to police department exteriors, it was hypothesized that the façade ratings would relate to the authoritarianism ratings, with more authoritarian people expected to rate the façades higher in authority. Although this hypothesis was not supported, significant findings were related to gender. Applications to architectural design are discussed.     

Timber harvest planning—A combined optimization/simulation model

A special cascading fixed charge structure can be used to characterize a forest management planning problem in which the objectives are to identify the optimal shape of forest harvest cutting units and simultaneously to assign facilities for logging those units. We describe a four-part methodology that has been developed to assist forest managers in analyzing areas proposed for harvesting. This methodology performs an analysis of harvesting feasibility, computes the optimal solution to the cascading fixed charge problem, undertakes a GASP IV simulation to provide additional information about the proposed harvesting operation, and permits the forest manager to perform a time-cost analysis that may lead to a more realistic, and thus improved, solution.     

Patterns of television viewing and of perceptions of hazards to life

A previous study using respondents in a London regional audience appreciation diary panel showed that links existed between overall amounts of the viewing of television recorded across one week and levels of perception of risk of three hazards to life, namely lightning, flooding and terrorist bomb attacks. With a fourth hazard, cancer, there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between perceived risk level and amount of viewing. At the same time there were no relationships between amounts of viewing of news and documentary material and perceived risks of any of 12 hazards. Two new surveys were done, nearly three years after the previous one, asking people in widely different regions about their perceptions of nine various hazards, and linking these results with measures of attitudes towards certain adaptations of new technology (which could prove hazardous or beneficial according to points of view) and to patterns of television viewing. The two surveys agreed on a wide number of points with each other; they agreed with the previous study in finding no steady relationships between information programme viewing and hazard perception. Lightning and flooding were again related, this time more specifically with viewing of particular types of television programming. A new finding is that heavier viewing of television sport is associated with less perceived risk of cancer and of nuclear pollution. Interpretations are generally favoured along the lines of a selective process of viewers with certain predispositions choosing certain kinds of viewing patterns, rather than that programme contents provide an example for formulating perceptions and attitudes.     

Factors influencing the acceptability of energy policies: A test of VBN theory

This paper examines factors influencing the acceptability of energy policies aimed to reduce the emission of CO₂ by households. More specifically, it is studied to what extent the value–belief–norm theory of environmentalism (VBN theory; Stern, [(2000). Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 407–424.]) is successful in explaining acceptability judgements. In contrast to previous studies, we test the full VBN theory. A questionnaire study was conducted among 112 Dutch respondents. Results confirmed the causal order of the variables in VBN theory, moving from relative stable general values to beliefs about human–environment relations, which in turn affect behaviour specific beliefs and norms, and acceptability judgements, respectively. As expected, all variables were significantly related to the next variable in the causal chain. Biospheric values were also significantly related to feelings of moral obligation to reduce household energy consumption when intermediate variables were controlled for. Furthermore, as hypothesized, personal norms mediated the relationship between AR and acceptability judgements, AR beliefs mediated the relationship between AC beliefs and personal norms, AC beliefs mediated the relationship between NEP and AR beliefs, and NEP mediated the relationship between values and AC beliefs.     

Effects of Soundscapes on Perceived Crowding and Encounter Norms

Soundscapes in recreation settings are becoming an important issue, but there are few studies of the effects of sounds on recreation experiences, especially crowding perceptions and encounter norms. This study compared effects of six types of sounds (an airplane, a truck engine, children playing, birds, water, and a control) on perceived crowding (PC) and encounter norms for hikers. Data were collected from 47 college students through lab experiments using simulated images, with moving hikers inserted in the original photo taken in the Jungmeori area of Mudeungsan Provincial Park in Korea. Overall, the motor-made sounds of the airplane and truck engine increased PC and decreased acceptability ratings, and the natural sounds of birds and water decreased PC and increased acceptability ratings. Ratings of the sound of children playing were similar to those in the control (i.e., no sound). In addition, as numbers of hikers increased, the overall effects of sounds decreased, and there were few significant differences in PC or acceptability ratings at the highest encounter levels. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.     

The relationships between awareness of consequences,environmental concern,and value orientations

Different people become engaged in environmental issues and perform proenvironmental behavior because they believe in and are concerned about adverse consequences of environmental problems for themselves (egoistic beliefs and concerns), others (social-altruistic beliefs and concerns), or the biosphere (biospheric beliefs and concerns). These different beliefs and concerns are assumed to derive from corresponding value orientations. Yet, distinguishing egoistic, social-altruistic, and biospheric value orientations has proved difficult in previous research. Based on a survey of 494 Swedish residents between 18 and 69 years old, the present study provides empirical support for that egoistic, social-altruistic, and biospheric environmental concerns are related to corresponding awareness-of-consequences beliefs, and that both the beliefs and environmental concerns are related to the three value types power, benevolence, and universalism.     

Near-miss events,risk messages,and decision making

Decades of research have sought to understand how disaster preparedness decisions are made. We believe one understudied factor is the impact of near-miss events. A near-miss occurs when an event (such as a hurricane or terrorist attack) has some non-trivial probability of ending in disaster (loss of life, property damage), but the negative outcome is avoided largely by chance (e.g., at the last minute, the storm dissipates or the bomb fails to detonate). In the first of two experiments, we study reactions to a hurricane threat when participants are told about prior near-miss events. We find that people with information about a prior near-miss event that has no negative consequences are less likely to take protective measures than those with either no information or information about a prior near-miss event that has salient negative information. Similar results have been shown in prior research, but we seek to understand people’s reasoning for the different reactions. We examine the role of an individual’s risk propensity and general level of optimism as possible explanatory variables for the “near-miss” effect. We find risk propensity to be stable across conditions, whereas general optimism is influenced by the type of prior near-miss information, so that optimism mediates how near-miss information impacts protective decisions. People who experience a potentially hazardous near-miss but escape without obvious cues of damage will feel more optimistic and take less protective action. In the second study, we test messages about the hazard’s risk and examine the impact of these messages to offset the influence of near-misses. We end by discussing the implications of near-misses for risk communication.     

Applicability of sustainable urban drainage systems: an evaluation by multi-criteria analysis

Urban flooding has become more serious and worldwide in recent years, especially in the big cities of developing countries. This study uses a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) approach to evaluate the applicability of sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), a flood control measure, in the central part of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The output of the personal computer storm water management model along with interviews with 140 households was used to assess the efficacy and acceptability of four SUDS alternatives: rainwater harvesting, green roof, urban green space and pervious pavement. On technical performance, green roof was the best alternative, followed by pervious pavement, urban green space and rainwater harvesting. Results of the social survey, however, diverged largely from the results of the technical assessments. In particular, people generally prefer public SUDS such as urban green space and pervious pavements to household solutions. With respect to the MCA, we applied four different procedures: Borda count, pair-wise voting, range of value and analytic hierarchy process. Despite some differences, the integrated results from MCA largely agree that urban green space is the most favourable type of SUDS, followed by green roof, pervious pavement and rainwater harvesting.     

PHYSICAL HYDROLOGY AND THE EFFECTS OF FOREST HARVESTING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: A REVIEW1

The Pacific Northwest encompasses a range of hydrologic regimes that can be broadly characterized as either coastal (where rain and rain on snow are dominant) or interior (where snowmelt is dominant). Forest harvesting generally increases the fraction of precipitation that is available to become streamflow, increases rates of snowmelt, and modifies the runoff pathways by which water flows to the stream channel. Harvesting may potentially decrease the magnitude of hyporheic exchange flow through increases in fine sediment and clogging of bed materials and through changes in channel morphology, although the ecological consequences of these changes are unclear. In small headwater catchments, forest harvesting generally increases annual runoff and peak flows and reduces the severity of low flows, but exceptions have been observed for each effect. Low flows appear to be more sensitive to transpiration from vegetation in the riparian zone than in the rest of the catchment. Although it appears that harvesting increased only the more frequent, geomorphically benign peak flows in several studies, in others the treatment effect increased with return period. Recovery to pre‐harvest conditions appeared to occur within about 10 to 20 years in some coastal catchments but may take many decades in mountainous, snow dominated catchments.     

Youth environmental attitudes in Australia and Brunei: implications for education

This paper explores similarities and differences in the knowledge, beliefs and actions that comprise the environmental attitudes of senior secondary school students in Australia and Brunei. Utilising data from a wider international study in Asia and the Pacific (Yencken et al. , 2000), the paper uses findings from these two countries to illustrate the pervasiveness of global environmental concerns over local cultural influences in the construction of youth environmental attitudes in Australia and Brunei. Thus, young people in these countries, as they do in all parts of the Asia-Pacific region, have very similar levels of environmental awareness and knowledge, sources of environmental, beliefs, systems or world views about the environment, and levels of perceived control over environmental trends. They also have a shared desire for schools to do more in the area of environmental education. The paper concludes that much more effort needs to be made in certain areas. The first is to encourage teachers and others who have influence over young people to develop their own knowledge and skills to be able to teach environmental education effectively. The second is in the area of curriculum and pedagogical reform so that young people explore the many possible ways in which current systems can change to support sustainability, in which current lifestyles reflect these systems, and in which their own actions can contribute to a sustainable future.     

The environmentalist who cried drought: Reactions to repeated warnings about depleting resources under conditions of uncertainty

Three studies examined the impact of warnings about depleting resources. In Study 1, participants played 16 trials of a 5-person resource dilemma game with complete resource uncertainty. After trial 12, participants were told they were close to depleting the resource, and thereafter received no additional warnings. Size of harvests dropped after the warning, but rebounded within 3 trials to pre-warning levels, a pattern stronger under low harvesting variability. In Study 2, participants received warnings after trials 12 and 16 of a 22-trial game. Again, harvesting dropped after the first warning, but rebounded to pre-warning levels within 3 trials, a pattern stronger under a short-term vs. a long-term warning. Harvesting was unaffected by the second warning. In Study 3, when participants received no feedback about others' harvests, harvesting dropped after both warnings, and was lower among those led to believe the resource would last a short number of trials.     

Environmental preference and restoration: (How) are they related?

Does the widely documented tendency to prefer natural over built environments owe to the perception of greater restorative potential in natural environments? In the present experimental study we tested the mediating role of restoration in environmental preferences. Participants viewed a frightening movie, and then were shown a video of either a natural or a built environment. We used two examples of each type of environment. Participants’ mood ratings were assessed before and after they viewed the frightening movie, and again after viewing the environmental video. Participants also rated the beauty of the environment shown (to indicate preference) and performed a test of concentration after viewing the environmental video. The results indicate that participants perceived the natural environments as more beautiful than the built environments. In addition, viewing natural environments elicited greater improvement in mood and marginally better concentration than viewing built environments. Mediational analyses revealed that affective restoration accounted for a substantial proportion of the preference for the natural over the built environments. Together, these results help substantiate the adaptive function of people's environmental preferences.     

Simulating Spatial and Temporal Context of Forest Management Using Hypothetical Landscapes

/ Spatially explicit models that combine remote sensing with geographic information systems (GIS) offer great promise to land managers because they consider the arrangement of landscape elements in time and space. Their visual and geographic nature facilitate the comparison of alternative landscape designs. Among various activities associated with forest management, none cause greater concern than the impacts of timber harvesting on the composition, structure, and function of landscape ecosystems. A timber harvest allocation model (HARVEST) was used to simulate different intensities of timber harvest on 23,592-ha hypothetical landscapes with varying sizes of timber production areas and different initial stand age distributions. Our objectives were to: (1) determine the relative effects of the size of timber production areas, harvest intensity, method used to extract timber, and past timber harvest activity on the production of forest interior and edge; and (2) evaluate how past management (in the form of different initial stand age distributions) constrains future timber production options. Our simulations indicated that the total area of forest interior and the amount of forest edge were primarily influenced by the intensity of timber harvest and the size of openings created by harvest. The size of the largest block of interior forest was influenced most by the size of timber harvests, but the intensity of harvest was also significant, and the size of nontimber production areas was important when harvests were numerous and widely dispersed within timber management areas, as is often the case in managed forests. Stand age-class distributions produced by past harvest activity limited the amount of timber production primarily when group selection was used, but also limited clear-cutting when recent harvest levels were high.KEY WORDS: Simulation modeling; Timber harvest; Historical context; Spatial context; Landscape pattern; Forest interior; Forest edge     

FOG DRIP,WATER YIELD,AND TIMBER HARVESTING IN THE BULL RUN MUNICIPAL WATERSHED,OREGON1

Analysis of recent streamflow data from the Fox Creek Experimental Watersheds in the Bull Run Municipal Watershed, Oregon, indicates a significant recovery from the impacts on summer water yield due to a loss of fog drip upon timber harvesting. Measurable impacts and their associated recovery are notable only during the months of June and July. Recovery begins about five or six years following harvest, possibly due to renewed fog drip from prolific revegetation. Watershed positioning with respect to prevailing weather systems and the extent of burning or removal of slash and residual vegetation during logging appear to be important factors in predicting the impact of fog drip reduction associated with planned harvest. Apparently, once the temporary reduction in summer yield is offset by renewed fog drip, the expected increase in yield due to decreased evapotranspiration can be observed. Redistribution of fog drip may be a major factor in the measurements of local interception and water yield.     

Ecosystem Management on Public Lands: An Application of Optimal Externality to Timber Production

While there are increasing numbers of non-consumptive forest uses on public lands, some silvicultural management systems provide little flexibility for the realization of non-commodity values. Traditional economic decision-making tools, such as net present value, are often applied in a manner which inadequately accounts for the full value of the resource. As a result, sub-optimal management practices are often implemented. By applying a marginal analysis of the optimal externality of different silvicultural systems, it is possible to identify the optimal timber management strategy in terms of the total costs of the timber harvest under alternative uses. Although difficulties arise in valuing non-consumptive uses, contingent valuation with averting costs estimates can establish a lower bound on society's willingness to pay for foregone timber harvesting. Low impact harvest operations and “new forestry” techniques, such as selection harvest cuts, are helpful in reducing the external costs of timber cutting. Therefore, the implementation of such systems may actually increase the socially optimal area of public lands to be harvested under a multiple-use designation.     

FOREST HYDROLOGY ISSUES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: A CONSULTANT'S VIEWPOINT1

ABSTRACT: Forest hydrology should be a mature science with routine use of hydrological procedures to evaluate the effect of past, current and proposed harvesting practices on water resources. It is not. However, water users are pressuring forest managers to exercise their role in managing forested watersheds for water supply. Most forest managers are poorly equipped to carry out this role. Forestry schools need to ensure that their graduates, whether employed in forest management positions or as specialists in watershed management, understand that all forestry operations may affect instream or downstream water users. Specialists in forest hydrology should be fully aware of the following: (1) climate and watershed characteristics influence streamflow in separate ways; (2) forestry practices produce changes in water yield and quality, and that only these changes need to be evaluated to estimate their effects; (3) watershed storage is a critical factor in evaluating the effects of harvesting on streamflow; and (4) the effect of harvest on one watershed cannot be extrapolated to another without consideration of the processes affected. Research is needed to assist watershed managers in applying models to watersheds for which climate and streamflow data are insufficient. Research is also needed to incorporate climate, streamflow and other data for hydrological models into geographic information systems. Joint research projects are needed to develop physical relationships between stream channel characteristics of importance to fisheries biologists and streamflow characteristics affected by forest harvest.     

A decade of recreation ratings for six silviculture treatments in Western Oregon

Managed forests are increasingly being used for recreation. As a result, foresters may be expected to tailor silvicultural treatments to accommodate specific recreation preferences. To better understand changes in hiking and camping quality in the years following a harvest, six sites on the Oregon State University's research forest were evaluated annually for 11 years. Multiple comparison and regression analyses were used to describe the data. Results show that recreation ratings generally improved over time; recreation ratings were related to but different from scenic ratings; and there were differences among recreation activities. Although several studies have previously examined recreation quality after harvest, we know of no other study that has tracked the ratings of individual harvest units through the early stages of stand regeneration.     

Experimental Evaluation of the Sustainability of Dwarf Bamboo (Pseudosasa usawai) Sprout-Harvesting Practices in Yangminshan National Park,Taiwan

Sustainable harvest of natural products that meets the needs of local people has been viewed by many as an important means for sustaining conservation projects. Although plants often respond to tissue damage through compensatory growth, it may not secure long-term sustainability of the populations because many plants enhance individual well-being at the expense of propagation. Sustainability may further be threatened by infrequent, large-scale events, especially ill-documented ones. We studied the impacts of sprout harvesting on sprout growth in a dwarf bamboo (Pseudosasa usawai) population that has seemingly recovered from an infrequent, large-scale masting event. Experimental results suggest that although a single sprout harvest did not significantly alter the subsequent abundance and structure of sprouts, culm damage that accompanied sprout harvesting resulted in shorter, thinner, and fewer sprouts. Weaker recovery was found in windward, continually harvested, and more severely damaged sites. These findings suggest that sprout growth of damaged dwarf bamboos is likely non-compensatory, but is instead supported through physiological integration whose strength is determined by the well-being of the supplying ramets. Healthy culms closer to the damage also provided more resources than those farther away. Sustainable harvesting of sprouts could benefit from organized community efforts to limit the magnitude of culm damage, provide adequate spacing between harvested sites, and ensure sufficient time interval between harvests. Vegetation boundaries relatively resilient to infrequent, large-scale events are likely maintained by climatic factors and may be sensitive to climate change. Continual monitoring is, therefore, integral to the sustainability of harvesting projects.