Measuring attitudes towards three values that underlie sustainable development

Freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility are, according to UN (2000), specific and fundamental values. According to Shepherd et al. (2009), there is a lack of knowledge about the nature of these sustainability values and more research on these values and how they can be measured are needed. The purpose of this article is to present results from a study that aims to develop more knowledge about young people’s attitudes towards sustainability. The study focused on three of these fundamental values: respect for nature, solidarity and quality.The methodology was a questionnaire answered by 918 upper secondarystudents. A new scale was constructed to measure attitudes towards solidarity and equality. The results show significant differences related to gender, urban or rural living and upper secondary program attended. There is also a positive correlation between solidarity and willingness to preserve nature.