A Tale of Peaks and Valleys: Sinusoid Relationship Patterns Between Mountainousness and Basic Human Values
Published version
Peer-reviewed
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Abstract
jats:p Mountains—mythic and majestic—have fueled widespread speculation about their effects on character. Emerging empirical evidence has begun to show that physical topography is indeed associated with personality traits, especially heightened openness. Here, we extend this work to the domain of personal values, linking novel large-scale individual values data ( n = 32,666) to objective indicators of altitude and mountainousness derived from satellite radar data. Partial correlations and conditional random forest machine-learning algorithms demonstrate that altitude and mountainousness are related to increased conservation values and decreased hedonism. Effect sizes are generally small (| r| < .031) but comparable to other socio-ecological predictors, such as population density and latitude. The findings align with the dual-pressure model of ecological stress, suggesting that it might be most adaptive in the mountains to have an open personality to effectively deal with threats and endorse conservative values that promote a social order that minimizes threats. </jats:p>
Description
Keywords
Journal Title
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
1948-5514
Volume Title
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Sponsorship
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (Post-Doctoral Fellowship)
Cambridge Trust (Doctoral Scholarship)