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Beliefs about Human-Nature Relationships and Implications for Investment and Stewardship Surrounding Land-Water System Conservation

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  • John D. Coley

    (Cognitive Laboratory of Environmental and Arts Research (CLEAR), Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Nicole Betz

    (Cognitive Laboratory of Environmental and Arts Research (CLEAR), Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA)

  • Brian Helmuth

    (Cognitive Laboratory of Environmental and Arts Research (CLEAR), Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, Nahant, MA 01908, USA
    School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Nahant, MA 01908, USA)

  • Keith Ellenbogen

    (Cognitive Laboratory of Environmental and Arts Research (CLEAR), Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Department of Photography, SUNY The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY 10001, USA)

  • Steven B. Scyphers

    (Cognitive Laboratory of Environmental and Arts Research (CLEAR), Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, Nahant, MA 01908, USA)

  • Daniel Adams

    (Cognitive Laboratory of Environmental and Arts Research (CLEAR), Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
    School of Architecture, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

Abstract

When engaging stakeholders in environmental conservation, it is critical to understand not only their group-level needs, but also the individually held beliefs that contribute to each person’s decisions to endorse or reject policies. To this end, we examined the extent to which people conceptualize the interconnected relationship between humans and nature in the context of a hypothetical urban waterway, and the implications thereof for environmental investment and stewardship. We also explored how these beliefs varied based on describing the waterway as having either local or global impacts, and as originating either naturally or through artificial processes. Three hundred and seventy-nine adults from the United States read vignettes about a polluted urban waterway and thereafter reported their investment in river clean-up, their stewardship of the river, and their beliefs surrounding human-nature relationships. Results revealed a common belief pattern whereby humans were believed to impact the urban river disproportionately more than the river impacts humans, suggesting that lay adults often weigh the impacts of humans on the natural world disproportionally. Critically, this disproportionate pattern of thinking inversely predicted investment of time and money in river clean-up. Results also revealed a potential solution to this psychological bias: highlighting local benefits of the waterway decreased the asymmetry of the human-nature relationship. We discuss the psychological factors contributing to this cognitive bias, and the implications of these findings on stakeholder engagement.

Suggested Citation

  • John D. Coley & Nicole Betz & Brian Helmuth & Keith Ellenbogen & Steven B. Scyphers & Daniel Adams, 2021. "Beliefs about Human-Nature Relationships and Implications for Investment and Stewardship Surrounding Land-Water System Conservation," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:12:p:1293-:d:687578
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    References listed on IDEAS

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