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Exploring cultural differences in wildlife value orientations using student samples in seven nations

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Version 2 2024-05-30, 16:20
Version 1 2022-01-28, 13:56
journal contribution
posted on 2024-05-30, 16:20 authored by MH Jacobs, S Dubois, T Hosaka, V Ladanović, HFM Muslim, Kelly MillerKelly Miller, S Numata, E Ranaweerage, TM Straka, Mike WestonMike Weston, ZAZ Abidin
AbstractUnderstanding differences in the way people think about wildlife across countries is important as many conservation challenges transcend jurisdictions. We explored differences in wildlife value orientations in seven countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Serbia. Standard scales assessed domination (prioritizing human well-being) and mutualism (striving for egalitarian relationships with wildlife). We used student samples (total n = 2176) for cross-cultural comparisons. Reliabilities of the wildlife value orientations scales were adequate in all countries. Relationships between demographics and wildlife value orientations were different across countries. Men were generally more oriented towards domination and less towards mutualism than women, except in Serbia, where it was the other way around. Estimated at the level of the individual (using ANOVA), wildlife value orientations varied across countries, with nationality explaining a larger portion of the variation in mutualism (21%) than domination (6%). Estimated at the level of countries (using multilevel modelling), effect sizes were comparable. Thought about wildlife has previously only been examined within single countries. This paper makes a new contribution to the conservation literature suggesting that wildlife value orientations vary by country, and are associated with demographic factors. For conservation practices, understanding national differences in the way people think about wildlife is crucial to understanding sources of conflict among practitioners. Such knowledge is also important to gain public support for conservation.

History

Journal

Biodiversity and Conservation

Volume

31

Pagination

757-777

Location

Berlin, Germany

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

0960-3115

eISSN

1572-9710

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

3

Publisher

Springer