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Achieving conservation impact by shifting focus from human attitudes to behaviors
Author(s) -
Nilsson Danielle,
Fielding Kelly,
Dean Angela J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1111/cobi.13363
Subject(s) - strengths and weaknesses , conservation psychology , psychology , behavioural sciences , measure (data warehouse) , quality (philosophy) , focus (optics) , applied psychology , management science , social psychology , computer science , ecology , engineering , biodiversity , philosophy , physics , epistemology , database , optics , psychotherapist , biology
Attitudes have been a commonly used psychological measure of program effectiveness in conservation social science research. The major limitation of this approach is that attitudes do not always translate into behavior and therefore may not provide an accurate assessment of program success. Given that achieving conservation goals generally relies on understanding and changing human behavior, we argue for the need to assess behavior rather than attitudes as an indicator of conservation outcomes. Psychological theory shows that attitudes and behavior are distinct, but related, concepts. Measuring conservation behaviors involves identifying the target behavior or behaviors and the optimal time to measure and then selecting the most appropriate method of measurement (i.e., direct observation, objective indicators, self‐reported behavior, and behavioral intentions) that considers the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. We call for conservation programs to focus on influencing behavior rather than attitudes alone and encourage conservation practitioners and researchers to collect high‐quality behavioral data to more effectively inform policy and programs.