Work

It's what on the inside that counts: Addressing the biodiversity crisis by emphasizing species' inner mental lives

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The biodiversity crisis is threatening the survival of all species on our planet. The taxonomic bias complicates this issue further: species that are taxonomically closer to humans receive more funding and research attention than those that are taxonomically more remote and potentially important ecologically. The current research takes a social similarity approach to explain species engagement – defined as the extent to which we feel related to other species and experience care and concern over their well-being. We distinguish between two factors that influence perceptions, attitudes and behavior regarding other animals: bottom-up visual cues (regarding physical similarity) and top-down knowledge or beliefs about animals’ capacities (implying mental similarity). We tested the relative importance of these two factors for human engagement with other species, with both a correlational (Study 1: N=564) and an experimental study (Study 2: N=204). A sample of species was systematically selected to represent a range of the phylogenetic tree. Species engagement was operationalized at three levels: self-other overlap, moral concern, and conservation support; the latter was a behavioral measure with real-life consequences. Results of Study 1 indicate clear differential effects of a species’ mental versus physical similarity on participants’ species engagement, with mental similarity having an up to 4 times larger effect on perceived overlap, moral concern, and actual conservation support. Results from Study 2 replicated the pattern of results for physical similarity which affected perceived overlap and moral concern, but not conservation support. Further replicating Study 1, mental similarity significantly increased conservation support across species; but effects for self-other overlap or moral concern were not replicated, with potential explanations discussed. Findings demonstrate the usefulness of a social similarity approach to conservation psychology and offer a novel perspective for communications around nature conservation.

Source: Journal of Environmental Psychology

DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102411

Authors: Sari R.R. Nijssen, Morris Krainz, Mathew P. White, Sabine Pahl

Institutions: University of Vienna, University of Geneva, University of Exeter

Language: English

Topic: Animal and Plant Science Education

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,060