Values shape what a person considers important, which influences how they interpret an environmental issue and the choices they make. In IB ESS, values therefore connect a person's underlying beliefs to their observable decisions and actions.
The Mechanism
This is core content for both SL and HL in Subtopic 1.1 Perspectives. Values are qualities or principles that people believe have worth and importance, such as economic security, social equality, technological progress, animal welfare, or the intrinsic value of nature.
A perspective is how an individual views and understands a particular situation. It develops from personal and collective assumptions, values, and beliefs, but is also influenced by scientific understanding, religion, laws, economic conditions, sociocultural norms, significant events, and lived experience.
| Stage | Role in shaping choices |
|---|---|
| Inputs | Culture, education, religion, science, economic conditions, laws, media, and experience influence values and beliefs. |
| Values | The person decides what has greatest worth or importance. |
| Perspective | Those values shape how the person interprets an environmental issue. |
| Outputs | The perspective produces choices, communication, policies, consumption patterns, or activism. |
An environmental value system models this connection between inputs, perspectives, and outputs. For example, someone who prioritizes the intrinsic value of forests may support strict conservation. Someone who emphasizes employment and economic growth may support carefully managed resource extraction, while a person who values technological innovation may favour monitoring and low-impact extraction methods.
Costa Rica illustrates how ecological and economic values can operate together. Forest protection, national parks, and payments for ecosystem services reflect concern for biodiversity while also supporting ecotourism and livelihoods.
A common misconception is that values are simply opinions. Values are deeper principles that help produce perspectives; perspectives are the resulting ways in which issues are understood.
Exam Technique
For an explain question, show the causal chain: values influence perspectives, and perspectives influence choices. Use precise terminology and support the explanation with a named environmental example. For discuss or evaluate, compare contrasting perspectives and finish with a supported conclusion.
