Anthropomorphism and Pro-Environmentalism Among Young Adults

• In Event: Anthropomorphism and its Effects on Conceptual and Moral Understanding of the World

Abstract

Even as adults, we tend to attribute human-like attributes to non-human entities; a spider may be thought of as ‘clever’ if it puts its web in a hard-to-reach spot in our basement, and our statistical analysis software might be called ‘a jerk’ if it crashes right before we can save our work. To what extent do these types of attributions influence our beliefs about the environment? Across two studies, the current research explored correlations between anthropomorphism and pro-environmentalism among young adults.

Study 1 explored correlations between agreement with anthropomorphic statements about non-human animals (e.g., ‘mammalian mothers feel sad if they are separated from their children’; ‘crows that peck at the ground believe that a worm is underneath’) and pro-environmentalism (e.g., ‘I support pro-environmental government policies’; ‘I would like to join and/or support an environmental organization’). We found that anthropomorphism of mammals (r(81) = .226, p = .04) —but not other types of animals—was positively correlated with reportedly engaging in eco-conscious behaviors.

Study 2 explored correlations between agreement with anthropomorphic statements about ‘Mother Nature’ (henceforth ‘Gaia’; e.g., ‘I believe that the Earth is alive‘; ‘I believe that Nature responds to the needs of animals to help them survive’) and concern about global climate change as well as reported likelihood to engage in mitigating behaviors. We found that Gaia predicted decreased concern about the effects of global climate change on humans (r(100) = -.211, p = .04). At the same time, Gaia also predicted reported engagement in a pro-environmental lifestyle, like consistently recycling (r(101) = .333, p = .001).

Together, findings suggest that intuitively representing similarities between humans and non-human entities—be them animals or ethereal spirits of the Earth—may be importantly related to concern about imminent climate disasters, and environmental behaviors. While thinking of animals as human-like may foster a desire for environmental stewardship, thinking of Gaia as an intentional agent may foster a false sense of security, perhaps in conjunction with engagement in simple daily actions like recycling.

Authors

• Nicole Betz, Yale University
  Presenting Author

• Emma Pitt, Northeastern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• John D Coley, Northeastern University
  Non-Presenting Author