Trust in Natural Resource Information Sources and Postmaterialist Values: A Comparative Study of U.S. and Canadian Citizens in the Great Lakes Area

Brent S. Steel
Nicholas P. Lovrich
John C. Pierce

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DOI: 10.2190/YYJN-PVBQ-CWYR-BA81

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between postmaterialist value orientations and trust in natural resource information sources among Canadian and U.S. citizens. The data stem from mail surveys collected among residents in metropolitan areas on the Great Lakes. Findings suggest that individuals with postmaterialist value orientations are significantly less trusting of traditional sources of natural resource information (e.g., government and private industry) than are their compatriots with materialist value orientations. In addition, Canadians are found to be generally more trusting of government information sources and less trusting of private information sources than are their American counterparts. Thus, the trust accorded an information source depends on the source itself, the value orientation of the individual according that trust, and the political culture of the country in which the information source and the individual are found.

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