Is a Picture Worth More Than 1,000 Words? Bolstering Viewers' Valuing of Biodiversity Through Photographs

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Supporting Learning Through Fundamental Cognitive Processes

Abstract

Many individuals struggle to see, comprehend, and care about the planet’s accelerating loss of biodiversity. Images offer opportunities to make the issue of declining biodiversity feel less psychologically distant and/or more emotionally resonant. This study tests whether photos of plants and animals can bolster people’s valuing of biodiversity and affect their corresponding behaviors. We assessed how two treatment groups who viewed photographs (with and without captions) compared to a control group in their valuing of biodiversity and willingness to donate to a nature-focused charity. We show participants who viewed photographs without captions not only valued biodiversity more but also gave more donations to the nature-focused charity. The negative emotions arising from the photos may partially explain the impact of this treatment.

Authors

• Carly D Robinson, Brown University

• Hunter Gehlbach, Johns Hopkins University

• Christine Calderon Vriesema, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire

• Eduardo Bernal, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Ursula Heise, University of California - Los Angeles