Farmer identity, ethical attitudes and environmental practices

There is increasing concern for environmental degradation caused by agricultural activity. Although large-scale agribusinesses are generally implicated, farmers themselves are often seen as culpable. We investigate whether farmer identity is an important factor affecting their attitudes toward the environment and farm management and conservation practices. Identity refers to a general outlook or perspective, whereas attitudes refer to beliefs or preferences about specific things. We investigate which identities matter most for affecting how farmers view the appropriateness of specific ethical situations relating to environmental management practices. We use a social-psychological model of ethical decision-making, and data from a survey of Missouri farmers, to examine the relationship between the identity of farmers and their attitudes toward ethical issues affecting the environment. We find that a conservation identity, in contrast to a productivist one, is most closely correlated with attitudes toward ethical environmental issues, although there is also an important interaction effect with one's view about the future.