Stephen Kellert’s development and contribution of relational values in social-ecological systems

• Published in: Current opinion in environmental sustainability Vol. 35; pp. 46 - 53
• Main Authors: Ross, Helen, Witt, Katherine, Jones, Natalie A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.12.2018
• Subjects: empirical research; humans; landscapes; United States; wildlife; United States
• ISSN: 1877-3435; 1877-3443
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2018.10.007

•Relational values help to explain ‘coupling’ in social-ecological systems.•Stephen Kellert made a seminal contribution to understanding relational values.•People relate to environments and animals through 10 types of value.•Appeal to all of these is necessary to manage social-ecological systems effectively.•Testing has shown the set of values holds for many countries and cultures. Relational values add a vital yet neglected dimension to explain the ‘coupling’ processes between humans and nature in social-ecological systems. We highlight the late Stephen Kellert’s seminal contribution to the study of relational values, in the context of later contributions in this field. Kellert’s set of nine, later ten, values were strongly founded in empirical research over several decades with wildlife and landscapes, in the USA and other countries. The values are related to the ‘biophilia hypothesis’- that humans have innate connections with nature. This review explains the development and innovation of Kellert’s framework, taking a critical view of the methods and subject matter on which it is based, and its contribution to the study of social-ecological systems.