A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Link between Modernization, Anthropomorphism and Attitude to Wildlife

Jose Luis Gomez-Melara, Rufino Acosta-Naranjo, Patricia Izar, Shahrul Anuar Mohd Sah, Jordi Pladevall, Risma Illa Maulany, Putu Oka Ngakan, Bonaventura Majolo, Teresa Romero and Federica Amici
Additional contact information
Jose Luis Gomez-Melara: Department of Social Anthropology, University of Seville, 41004 Seville, Spain
Rufino Acosta-Naranjo: Department of Social Anthropology, University of Seville, 41004 Seville, Spain
Patricia Izar: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508, Brazil
Shahrul Anuar Mohd Sah: School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 1112, Persiaran Sains, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia
Jordi Pladevall: University of Girona Foundation: Innovation and Training, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain
Risma Illa Maulany: Forestry Department, Hasanuddin University, Makassar 90245, Indonesia
Putu Oka Ngakan: Forestry Department, Hasanuddin University, Makassar 90245, Indonesia
Bonaventura Majolo: School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
Teresa Romero: School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
Federica Amici: Institute of Biology, Faculty of Life Science, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: Anthropogenic pressure has significantly increased in the last decades, often enhancing conflicts at the human–wildlife interface. Therefore, understanding peoples’ value orientations, attitudes and behavioural intentions towards wildlife is a crucial endeavour to reduce the occurrence of conflicts between humans and wildlife. Previous research in the USA has shown a consistent link between modernization and increased anthropomorphism (i.e., the tendency to attribute human mental or physical characteristics to other entities), leading to positive changes in value orientations, attitudes, and behavioural intentions towards wildlife. In this paper, we aimed to address whether this link is also present in other cultures, by testing participants (N = 741) in five different countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and Spain). Our study shows that while the positive link between anthropomorphism, positive attitudes and behavioural intentions towards wildlife is universal, the link between modernization and anthropomorphism is culturally mediated. In some countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain), modernization increased anthropomorphism, while in others modernization predicted no differences (Brazil) or even a decrease in anthropomorphism (Mexico), ultimately deteriorating individuals’ attitude and behavioural intentions towards wildlife. These results call for caution when generalizing findings from western industrialized countries to inform conservation policies worldwide.

Keywords: modernization; anthropomorphism; domination; mutualism; attitude; wildlife (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13095/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13095/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13095-:d:688471

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().