Valuing the unvaluable

The overall aim of the research presented in this dissertation is to gain more insight in the environmental values (EV) of children. EV are, across disciplines, regarded as an essential precondition of environmental behavior. A better understanding of what explains variation in EV and what they can tell us about the environmental behavior of children – the future’s decision-makers – makes an important contribution to the evaluation and design of environmental education initiatives. Essential to the overall design of the research in this dissertation is that is doesn’t consider EV as just individual traits (as is often done in environmental education research); the social and natural context in which children live are also incorporated. By doing so, the dissertation borrows from an approach of environmental sociology; trough also including methodologies from environmental psychology when it comes to measuring EV, the dissertation spans three disciplines and in that aims to achieve a more holistic perspective on the subject. The six studies that are presented in the dissertation each have their own specific focus: •(1) EV and personality •(2) gender differences in EV •(3) do schools matter for EV? •(4) do eco-schools matter for EV? •(5) a cross-national perspective on EV •(6) cross-cultural differences in EV.