Introduction: To what extent do the environmental resources of a country shape the values and thinking of its citizens? We explored the impact of available freshwater resources (per capita renewable internal freshwater resources available from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN, 2022) on diverse sets of cultural values (49 items) taken from the World Value Survey (7th wave: 2017-2022) and the European Value Survey (5th wave: 2017-2021) for 87 countries across the world.


Method: Multiple linear mixed effects models with random intercepts for world regions were run to analyze relationships between water availability and cultural values. We controlled for economic (2022 GNI per capita, life expectancy, potential agricultural yield), geographic (average temperature, distance from equator, real population density, percentage of agricultural land), and demographic/institutional (corruption, natural disaster vulnerability, percentage of Muslims) variables. The predictors were corrected for multiple tests.


Results: Water abundance was associated with greater perceived importance of both work and leisure time, prioritization of environmental protection over economic growth, increased perceived freedom of choice and control, and higher civic engagement in humanitarian or charitable organizations as well as other groups, including memberships in political parties. Additionally, water-scarce countries exhibited a stronger agreement with gendered norms that discriminate against women.

Conclusion: As far as we know, the present study is one of the first to investigate the possible impact of fresh water availability on people's broad range of values and attitudes at a global scale. Our findings imply that water scarcity might be impacting our thinking negatively and heightening social inequality in ways we have not yet explored. It motivates new perspectives on ecological and environmental psychology, having implications for both individual nations and geopolitical developments.