Centrality to life and the theory of planned behavior: the case of musk ox safaris in Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, Norway

Abstract

Understanding relationships between centrality to life and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) may provide further insight on wildliferelated behaviors, as the literature suggests both have effects on behavioral intentions. Using a survey (n = 219) of participants at musk ox safaris in Dovrefjell Norway, we investigated relationships between centrality to life and TPB, as well as musk ox safari participation's perceived effects on intentions to perform three proenvironmental behaviors. Relationships were analyzed using three partial least squares structural equation models (PLS-SEM) that had R 2 values of .46, .49, and .47, indicating satisfactory predictive validity. Centrality to life was related to two of TPB's dimensions: attitudes and subjective norms. Furthermore, centrality was associated with intentions to perform all three pro-environmental behaviors. We concluded that short-duration wildlife watching activities based on a single species can be positively related to participants' intentions, and centrality can add further insight to the TPB.

Predictors of the Behavioral Intention to Participate in Saiga Antelope Conservation among Chinese Young Residents

“…The significant effect of the perceived behavioral control on the behavioral intention to engage in wildlife conservation is already documented [24,31,53]. In this study, the perceived behavioral control ranks first in terms of standardized coefficients and is positively related with the behavioral intention.…”

“…We expanded the original TPB framework by including experience of wildlife conservation and knowledge of saiga antelope as additional predictors. Our model explains 48.4% of the variance in the behavioral intention to conserve saiga antelope, which is slightly less than the 49.1% explained in the intentions to donate money to an environmental organization (EO) for musk ox safaris [31], approximately equal to 48.1% identified by the study about Asian turtle conservation [24], but greater than 46.1% of intentions to participate in volunteer work that benefited wildlife [31], 42% of intentions to support panther recovery [29], and 41% of intention to participate in wildlife workshops [51]. Based on this comparison, we contend that our proposed model is effective in predicting public intention to conserve saiga antelope and provides insight into actionable determinants of public willingness to support wildlife conservation.…”

“…TPB differs from TRA by the additional predictor perceived behavioral control, which refers to people's perception of the ease or difficulty of performing the behavior [21]. Several studies identified the direct positive effect of perceived behavioral control on behavioral intention of wildlife conservation [24,31]. In this study, perceived behavioral control refers to the perceived difficulty of participating in saiga antelope conservation.…”

“…Subjective norms, which consist of injunctive norms and descriptive norms, refer to the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior [21]. Subjective norms turned out to be a key determinant of the behavioral intention to participate in activities that benefit wildlife, such as being a volunteer and donating [31]. Furthermore, the perceived pressure to conserve wildlife can not only come from important others, such as friends, family members [24,31], but also from the social environment, such as government and the society [24,32].…”

“…Subjective norms turned out to be a key determinant of the behavioral intention to participate in activities that benefit wildlife, such as being a volunteer and donating [31]. Furthermore, the perceived pressure to conserve wildlife can not only come from important others, such as friends, family members [24,31], but also from the social environment, such as government and the society [24,32]. In this study, the injunctive norm refers to the perception of pressure that one should participate in saiga antelope conservation, and the descriptive norm refers to the perception of pressure from others' participation in saiga antelope conservation.…”