The importance of narrowing the Values Perception Gap

Ellie Moore is a Programme Assistant for the environmental charity Global Action Plan which hosts Transform Our World, a community of educators empowering students to take action. Here, she delves into the implications of the Values Perception Gap and how this can be narrowed in education settings through taking collective action ahead of their training session ‘Understanding the Values Perception Gap’ in February.

Climate change is having a significant adverse effect on young people’s mental health, with research showing that anxiety and depression are the leading causes of illness and disability among teenagers. The current education system has very little focus on climate education, and when it does, it often focuses on knowledge as opposed to taking action, which only exacerbates issues such as climate anxiety.

There is often a misconception amongst young people and adults that others do not care about the environment, and that they are more concerned with self-interested values such as power, wealth and social status. This can often result in individuals holding back from speaking up about climate change and the desire to act, in fear of being ignored. Examples of this day-to-day could be that a teacher chooses not to plan a lesson focussing on climate change as they assume their students would be uninterested, or a young person feeling hesitant to suggest their school starts an eco-club, as they feel as though no one would be interested enough to listen.

However, research we’ve carried out at Global Action Plan found that almost all the young people surveyed said that caring for nature and other people is important to them. 84% of the young people surveyed also prioritised compassionate values such as equality, honesty and social justice, over self-interested values. Only 14% of young people surveyed prioritised self-interest values over compassionate values. But by age 16-18, almost half (48%) of them thought that other young people would prioritise self-interest values.

The Values Perception Gap

This misconception that most others do not care about the environment when in fact they do is known as the Values Perception Gap, and has been found in young people as young as 11. It is this gap which can often hinder young people from taking action on the social and environmental causes which they care deeply about, as our perceptions of others shape what we think is normal, and people tend to behave in a way which makes them fit in. When we don’t feel as though others care, we often result in feeling unusual for caring, so we don’t act.

Preventing the values-perception gap from widening, and working to close it when it has widened, may be the key to unleashing the potential of young people to do good and to promoting wellbeing in a changing world. Collective action, grounded in compassionate values, is key to narrowing the values-perception gap. This narrowing will unlock more action, by more people, on the social and environmental challenges we face.

How educators can help

Educators can play a crucial part in this by supporting young people to act and create change alongside others, whether that be within their school or in their wider community. Listening to young people’s ideas and giving them the space and resources, to create change will help to build a community of young change-makers who will shape the future and the world we want to see.

Global Action Plan is an environmental charity working towards a green and thriving planet, where everyone can enjoy happy and healthy lives within the Earth’s limits. Transform Our World, delivered by Global Action Plan and supported by #iwill fund, is an online community of 5,000 educators, that empowers students to take environmental and social action by showcasing quality-related resources, programmes and events.

Join Transform Our World for a free training session on ‘Understanding the Values Perception Gap: Helping young people find their shared values’ on 4^th February, 3pm – 4.30pm. Book your place here!