Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 115-131 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Human Dimensions of Wildlife |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 4 Aug 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Citizens can engage in wildlife conservation by participating in citizen science (CS) projects about wildlife. Interest in wildlife and science has been found to be one motivation for CS participation. Yet, we suggest that emotional responses, such as compassion for suffering, injured, or distressed wildlife, are relevant motivations that have so far been understudied. Compassion is known to increase behavioral intentions to alleviate suffering and, thus, is likely to have beneficial consequences for wildlife CS projects. Therefore, our two studies investigated the impact of different wildlife photographs on compassion, attitudes toward CS, and intentions to engage in CS. We found that photographs of distressed raccoons and foxes increased compassion, which thereby increased attitudes toward CS projects and some intentions to participate in these projects. Thus, compassion may be a relevant factor for increasing citizens’ engagement in wildlife conservation. We discuss the implications of our findings for CS and wildlife conservation.
Keywords
- Compassion, attitudes, citizen science, intentions, wildlife conservation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Nature and Landscape Conservation
- Environmental Science(all)
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
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In: Human Dimensions of Wildlife, Vol. 26, No. 2, 04.08.2020, p. 115-131.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - You poor little thing! The role of compassion for wildlife conservation
AU - Greving, Hannah
AU - Kimmerle, Joachim
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2020/8/4
Y1 - 2020/8/4
N2 - Citizens can engage in wildlife conservation by participating in citizen science (CS) projects about wildlife. Interest in wildlife and science has been found to be one motivation for CS participation. Yet, we suggest that emotional responses, such as compassion for suffering, injured, or distressed wildlife, are relevant motivations that have so far been understudied. Compassion is known to increase behavioral intentions to alleviate suffering and, thus, is likely to have beneficial consequences for wildlife CS projects. Therefore, our two studies investigated the impact of different wildlife photographs on compassion, attitudes toward CS, and intentions to engage in CS. We found that photographs of distressed raccoons and foxes increased compassion, which thereby increased attitudes toward CS projects and some intentions to participate in these projects. Thus, compassion may be a relevant factor for increasing citizens’ engagement in wildlife conservation. We discuss the implications of our findings for CS and wildlife conservation.
AB - Citizens can engage in wildlife conservation by participating in citizen science (CS) projects about wildlife. Interest in wildlife and science has been found to be one motivation for CS participation. Yet, we suggest that emotional responses, such as compassion for suffering, injured, or distressed wildlife, are relevant motivations that have so far been understudied. Compassion is known to increase behavioral intentions to alleviate suffering and, thus, is likely to have beneficial consequences for wildlife CS projects. Therefore, our two studies investigated the impact of different wildlife photographs on compassion, attitudes toward CS, and intentions to engage in CS. We found that photographs of distressed raccoons and foxes increased compassion, which thereby increased attitudes toward CS projects and some intentions to participate in these projects. Thus, compassion may be a relevant factor for increasing citizens’ engagement in wildlife conservation. We discuss the implications of our findings for CS and wildlife conservation.
KW - Compassion
KW - attitudes
KW - citizen science
KW - intentions
KW - wildlife conservation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088976164&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10871209.2020.1800146
DO - 10.1080/10871209.2020.1800146
M3 - Article
VL - 26
SP - 115
EP - 131
JO - Human Dimensions of Wildlife
JF - Human Dimensions of Wildlife
SN - 1087-1209
IS - 2
ER -