Nature relatedness: A protective factor for snake and spider fears and phobias

Zsidó, András N.; Coelho, Carlos M.; Polák, Jakub

doi:10.1002/pan3.10303

Cited by 14 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 168 publications

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“…Baseline analyses indicated that children who were more connected to nature before the intervention already had higher Wonder scores, which suggests a link between general connectedness to nature and attitudes towards individual species, regardless of whether the species is 'unpopular'. This could suggest that improving connectedness to nature could improve attitudes towards all wild animals, including 'unpopular' ones, which is supported by research by Zsido et al (2022). However, we found Dislike/fear towards adders was not associated with connectedness to nature, which may reflect snake-specific phobia or fear-based traits that are unrelated to whether the subjects were connected to nature…”

Section: Links Between Connectedness To Nature and Attitudes Towards ...supporting

confidence: 67%

“…Previous research has confirmed that increased nature connectedness is linked to pro-environmental behaviours in adulthood (Davis et al, 2009;Richardson et al, 2020;Zelinski et al, 2015) and to lower incidences of snake phobias (Zsido et al, 2022).…”

Section: Wider Implications For Conservation and Other Speciesmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Today's children are more disconnected from nature than children were 50 years ago (Bragg et al, 2013), with increasing evidence that children are suffering from ‘nature‐deficit disorder’ (Louv, 2010) and increasing ‘biophobia’ towards ‘undesirable’ species (Soga et al, 2020), which may in turn lead to a decrease in pro‐environmental attitudes later in life (Mackay & Schmitt, 2019; Natural England, 2020; Nisbet et al, 2009; Richardson et al, 2020; Soga et al, 2020). Recent research has also demonstrated a clear link between nature connectedness and snake phobias, such that, those more connected to nature are less likely to demonstrate these fears (Zsido et al, 2022). If upcoming generations continue to become disconnected from their environment, coupled with the continual negative portrayal of adders within the media, there may be increased likelihood of future indifference towards adder conservation and of persecution even being considered acceptable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improving attitudes towards adders (Vipera berus) and nature connectedness in primary‐age group children

Kelly,

Gardner

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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Adder ( Vipera berus ) populations are experiencing declines in many countries, including the United Kingdom. Perceptions of adders and other venomous snakes are generally negative, making conservation of these species a challenge, and persecution remains within the top five perceived causes for adder declines in the United Kingdom. Improved understanding and attitudes are needed to support current conservation efforts. However, ensuring these positive attitudes continue into the future relies on addressing children's loss of connection to nature, and intervention at this early attitude‐formation stage can be crucial for traditionally ‘unpopular’ species, such as snakes. An adder‐focussed public engagement project, Adders are Amazing !, was carried out in Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom, in 2018–19 to improve understanding and attitudes towards adders using a blended science‐creative arts approach. The project included half‐day primary school‐based workshops to inform 111 pupils aged 8–11 about adder ecology, alongside creative art experiences. Questionnaires were used to measure the children's attitudes towards adders and their nature connectedness both before and after the workshops and these were compared with equivalent questionnaires carried out at a control school (57 pupils) where no workshops were conducted. The project demonstrated that engagement that blends both art and science can significantly change attitudes towards adders without any direct contact with the animals themselves; specifically, participants' scores for ‘Wonder’, ‘Learning Interest’ and ‘Conservation Concern’ increased. The workshops also significantly increased measures of the children's general connectedness to nature (specifically, ‘Enjoyment of Nature’ and ‘Responsibility for Nature’). We recommend conservation bodies focus on, and not shy away from, so‐called ‘unpopular’ species, to promote understanding and acceptance of these species and support their conservation. Blended arts–science initiatives, which can be easily adapted to suit a wide range of species and the artistic practices of local communities, are an effective way to achieve this. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Section: Links Between Connectedness To Nature and Attitudes Towards ...supporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Wider Implications For Conservation and Other Speciesmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Improving attitudes towards adders (Vipera berus) and nature connectedness in primary‐age group children

Kelly,

Gardner

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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“…Finally, country-level indicators were also required for the negativistic grouping. These were included to tap into Kellert’s negativistic relationship type as there is evidence of relationship between higher levels of fear of nature and lower levels of nature connectedness (Zsido et al 2022 ). For a country-level indicator, the risk of natural disasters was included as an exploratory indicator of potential fear of nature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Country-level factors in a failing relationship with nature: Nature connectedness as a key metric for a sustainable future

Richardson

Hamlin

Elliott

et al. 2022

Ambio

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Climate change and biodiversity loss show that the human–nature relationship is failing. That relationship can be measured through the construct of nature connectedness which is a key factor in pro-environmental behaviours and mental well-being. Country-level indicators of extinction of nature experience, consumption and commerce, use and control of nature and negativistic factors were selected. An exploratory analysis of the relationship between these metrics and nature connectedness across adult samples from 14 European countries was conducted (n = 14,745 respondents). The analysis provides insight into how affluence, technology and consumption are associated with the human–nature relationship. These findings motivate a comparison of how nature connectedness and composite indicators of prosperity, progress, development, and sustainability relate to indicators of human and nature’s well-being. In comparison to composite indexes, it is proposed that nature connectedness is a critical indicator of human and nature’s well-being needed to inform the transition to a sustainable future.

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“…However, only emotional nature connection promoted tolerance of the charismatic and benign tapirs and macaws, and only traditionalism and universalism promoted tolerance of the uncharismatic vine snakes (benign) and vipers (threatening). Although people have evolved to fear snakes (Barrett & Broesch, 2012), in Hungary, where wild snakes present minimal risks to lay people (Malina et al., 2008), stronger nature connection has been associated with lower fear of snakes and spiders (Zsido et al., 2022). However, for rural Amazonians, the fear of snakes is easily reinforced through experience, due to a high incidence of snakebites, which may be fatal or cause life‐changing injuries (Feitosa et al., 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the influence of nature connection and values on conservation attitudes at a tropical deforestation frontier

Mikołajczak

Barlow

Lees

et al. 2023

Conservation Biology

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Inner phenomena, such as personal motivations for pursuing sustainability, may be critical levers for improving conservation outcomes. Most conservation research and policies, however, focus on external phenomena (e.g., ecological change or economic processes). We explored the factors shaping 9 conservation attitudes toward forest and wildlife protection among colonist farmers around an Amazonian deforestation frontier. Our data comprised 241 face‐to‐face quantitative surveys, complemented with qualitative insights from open‐ended questionnaire responses and opportunistic semistructured interviews. To account for the full spectrum of possible inner motivations, we employed measures of nature connection (indicating biospheric motivation) and personal values organized around the traditionalism (traditionalist through to high openness to change) and universalism dimensions (egoistic through to altruistic motivations). We used averaged beta‐binomial generalized linear models to assess the role of external factors (socioeconomic, sociodemographic, and environmental) and personal (inner) motivations on the variation in attitudes. Each attitude was modeled separately. The relative importance of each predictor was judged by the proportion of models where it appeared as significant. Proconservation views were expressed by the majority (at least 65%) of the respondents in 7 out of the 9 attitude models. The most consistent predictors were emotional nature connection and personal values (significant in 4–6 out of 9 models), rather than external phenomena (significant in 0–5 models). However, the poorest farmers had lower scores on the agreement with prioritizing nature over development (𝛽 = –0.52, 95% CI: –0.96 to –0.07). Qualitative data also indicated that economic barriers hinder forest conservation on farms. These results suggest that biospheric, traditionalistic, and altruistic motivations promote people's proconservation attitudes, but nurturing these latent motivations is unlikely to improve conservation outcomes if material poverty remains unaddressed. Integrating the inner–outer perspective into conservation thinking and practical interventions could foster environmental stewardship and increase human well‐being.

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Nature relatedness: A protective factor for snake and spider fears and phobias

Cited by 14 publications

References 168 publications

Improving attitudes towards adders (Vipera berus) and nature connectedness in primary‐age group children

Improving attitudes towards adders (Vipera berus) and nature connectedness in primary‐age group children

Country-level factors in a failing relationship with nature: Nature connectedness as a key metric for a sustainable future

Evaluating the influence of nature connection and values on conservation attitudes at a tropical deforestation frontier

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