The social factors of people, such as education, religion or if they live in rural or urban environments, are decisive when attributing “human” qualities to animals, which can eclipse the ecological importance of less charismatic species and undermine the broader conservation objectives.
Researchers from several countries, led by the scientist Federica Amici, from the University of Leipzig (Germany), have conducted a study among adults from five countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Malaysia and Spain) to understand how people’s social factors influence their tendency to attribute human qualities to animals (what researchers call ‘anthropomorphize’).
The researchers, who today publish the results of their work in the Iscience magazine of Cell Press, have proven how those qualities of humans and images are used (a ‘depressed’ polar bear or a ‘charismatic’ panda) to obtain support for conservation initiatives.
And they discovered that factors such as social integration, urban life, formal education and religion can influence the tendency of a person to attribute human characteristics to animals and affect their disposition to participate in conservation programs.
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Qualities that influence conservation strategies
“Unfortunately, anthropomorphism significantly influences conservation efforts,” said researcher Federica Amici, and has specified that species that look more like humans or exhibit similar behaviors often receive more attention, financing and public support.
The questionnaire focused on raising the participants and their perceptions about the physical similarity of animals with humans and their judgments about the ability of animals for emotion, consciousness or free will.
Thus, the survey revealed that socially isolated people associate with animals more frequently with the emotions and physical similarity of humans than those who are socially connected.
“People who feel alone or do not have a good connection with others often try to satisfy their need for social connection seeing human qualities in animals or other non -human beings,” Amici said.
Those people with more ‘urban’ experiences, such as having a pet, visiting zoos or consuming multimedia content with animals, showed a greater tendency to anthropomorphism throughout the survey, and were more likely to attribute consciousness, emotions and intentionality to animals; And those who have more formal education are less likely to think that animals have autonomy.
Differences also between religions
Religious education also influenced, since the participants of monotheistic religions such as Islam and Christianity are less likely to attribute awareness or free will to animals compared to religions participants such as Buddhism and Hinduism, and agnostics and atheists also attributed less free will to animals.
Together, the results help identify communities where the attribution of human features to animals could improve conservation strategies, but Amici has stressed that identifying the basis of anthropomorphism should not be the main objective.
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“I think anthropomorphizing species can be an effective approach, but it must be used cautiously,” said the researcher, who has stressed that this aspect could be counteracted by emphasizing other aspects, such as the crucial ecological role of each species.
With EFE information
