Effective Practices for Fostering Empathy Towards Marine Life

Using the Health Belief Model to Explore the Impact of Environmental Empathy on Behavioral Intentions to Protect Ocean Health

“…Empathy, broadly defined as understanding and sharing others’ emotional experiences, is a multi-dimensional construct that has both cognitive and affective dimensions, the former referring to understanding others’ emotions through perspective-taking and the latter referring to joining and sharing others’ emotional responses (Tam, 2013). While some scholars claim that empathy is primarily a fixed, affective outcome, others argue that it can be learned and cultivated over time (Wharton et al, 2019). Much of the psychological research on empathy focuses on empathy with humans, but empathy with nature has also been proposed as a useful theoretical construct (Geiger et al, 2017; Tam, 2013).…”

“…Environmental empathy is thought to be critical for environmental conservation efforts, including protecting oceans and marine life (Wharton et al, 2019). By the same token, environmental empathy has been linked to pro-environmental behaviors (Lee & Holden, 1999; Markowitz et al, 2012; Tam, 2013).…”

“…Despite these troubling observations and dire predictions, OA is a lesser known environmental issue in the public sphere, especially among other ocean health issues (Capstick et al, 2016; Cooke & Kim, 2019; Gelcich et al, 2014; The Ocean Project, 2012). Scholars have argued that increasing public awareness and concern for OA and other ocean health issues could translate into increased policy support and pro-environmental behavioral intentions (Wharton, Khalil, Fyfe, & Young, 2019; Yates et al, 2015). Such public support and behaviors are especially desirable because CO 2 emissions reduction policies are needed to mitigate both OA and climate change (Doney et al, 2009).…”

“…One psychosocial construct that has been explored in the context of behavioral intentions is environmental empathy (i.e., empathy for nature). Environmental empathy is an internal motivator (consciously or subconsciously derived from an individual’s values, experiences, and knowledge) that is associated with pro-environmental behaviors, and is considered to be central to garnering support for conservation efforts (e.g., Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002; Tam, 2013; Wharton et al, 2019). Some empirical research suggests that environmental empathy can be facilitated by small, simple interventions, such as prompting individuals to take the perspective of an animal harmed by pollution (Schultz, 2000), and it is believed that an individual’s empathy, rather than being fixed, can grow over time (Wharton et al, 2019).…”

“…Environmental empathy is an internal motivator (consciously or subconsciously derived from an individual’s values, experiences, and knowledge) that is associated with pro-environmental behaviors, and is considered to be central to garnering support for conservation efforts (e.g., Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002; Tam, 2013; Wharton et al, 2019). Some empirical research suggests that environmental empathy can be facilitated by small, simple interventions, such as prompting individuals to take the perspective of an animal harmed by pollution (Schultz, 2000), and it is believed that an individual’s empathy, rather than being fixed, can grow over time (Wharton et al, 2019). Inducing empathy for lesser-known environmental issues, however, may be challenging given the unfamiliarity and psychological distance from which individuals construe such topics (Schuldt et al, 2016).…”