Cultural Modeling Research

Diverse stakeholders are concerned about the fates of the Big Thicket and Eastern Shore. Oil and gas producers, farmers, fishermen, timber companies, retirees, urban recreationalists, conservationists, long time residents and new migrants all have a stake in the future of these regions.

All value the Big Thicket and Eastern Shore, but in somewhat different ways based on their economic situations, histories, and relationships to the land. Mitigating the current threats to these regions will require a degree of mutual understanding among these different stakeholder groups.

Generally speaking, cultural models are shared perceptions and attitudes about how the world works. They are mental tools used by to process and organize information, make decisions, and guide behavior. People construct simple cultural models of how the world works and use these models to guide decision-making, behavior and as an aid in understanding novel or unfamiliar ideas. We call them cultural models, instead of just mental models, because they are shared across social groups.

Of great importance, is that cultural models are taken for granted and operate below the level of individual consciousness. The research described here identified the cultural models used by diverse stakeholders to understand land conservation.

The project consisted of three phases.