Comparative analysis of environmental values between Islam and West world (Secondary analysis of world values survey)

Salehi, Sadegh; Hemaiatkhah Jahromi, Mojtaba

doi:10.22059/jisr.2013.51662

Comparative analysis of environmental values between Islam and West world (Secondary analysis of world values survey)

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Mazandaran, Iran

10.22059/jisr.2013.51662

Abstract

Current societies are not only faced with social, economic, political and cultural problems but also with environmental crises and this forced many social scientists to study environmental values. Some previous studies have shown that environmental values and moral commitment toward the environment are rooted in a specific worldview and religious education. The purpose of this study is to investigate status of environmental values among Muslim and non-Muslim countries with applying comparative approach. To meet this goal, with using secondary analysis and applying data of fifth wave of World Values Survey, Islamic countries consists of Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt and Jordan, of non-Muslim countries consists of the United States of America, Canada, Germany and Switzerland were compared with regard to some types of environmental values. The results of the study show that there is no significant difference between Muslim and non-Muslim countries with regard to environmental index. However, Muslim countries take environmental issues such as bad weather, climate change and hygiene more seriously compared with their non-Muslims counterpart. Furthermore, Muslim countries view the government much more responsible to cope with these environmental problems. Finally, the paper explains about the possible reasons of lack of difference between Muslim and non-Muslim countries in terms of environmental concern.

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