Public attitudes towards venomous and non-venomous snakes

Kontsiotis, Vasileios J.; Rapti, Aggeliki; Liordos, Vasilios

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154918

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Given the ecological and utilitarian value of snakes and the numerous threats they face, a better understanding of the psychological mechanisms that encourage or suppress human tolerance for these animals is needed to effectively guide regional conservation and management efforts (Gibbons, 1988;Dickman, 2010;Flykt et al, 2013;Struebig et al, 2018;Kontsiotis et al, 2022). Understanding tolerance is key to predicting people's potentially harmful actions toward snakes (Brenner and Metcalf, 2020), which can significantly impact conservation (Nilsson et al, 2020).…”

Section: Measuring Tolerance Of Snakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…John et al, 2018;Casola et al, 2020), including reptiles such as alligators (Skupien et al, 2016). Very few have focused on tolerance toward snakes (Onyishi et al, 2021;Kontsiotis et al, 2022). For the purposes of our study we use behavioral intentions, which represent an individual's expectations regarding how they will behave in a given situation, as a proxy for tolerance (Bruskotter and Fulton, 2012;Treves, 2012;Bruskotter and Wilson, 2014;St.…”

Section: Measuring Tolerance Of Snakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Value orientations are an intangible factor that has been shown to influence human coexistence with carnivore species across multiple contexts (Jacobsen et al, 2021). With respect to snakes, studies have shown that people with stronger mutualistic WVOs are most likely to demonstrate positive attitudes toward rattlesnakes (Keener-Eck et al, 2020b) and most likely to support conservation of both venomous and non-venomous snake species (Kontsiotis et al, 2022).…”

Section: Factors Influencing Tolerance Of Snakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research focused on human tolerance of snakes and its correlates is growing, but significant knowledge gaps persist (Christoffel, 2007;Christoffel and Lepczyk, 2012;Kontsiotis et al, 2022). Although some work has examined public perceptions of snakes in North America (Christoffel, 2007;Keener-Eck et al, 2020a;Keener-Eck et al, 2020b;Vaughn et al, 2022), most studies have centered on other global contexts where risks posed by venomous species are typically more prominent (Balakrishnan, 2010;Tomazǐc, 2011;Cerıáco, 2012;Torkar, 2015;Pandey et al, 2016;Pinheiro et al, 2016;Liordos et al, 2018;Onyishi et al, 2021;Kontsiotis et al, 2022). This skewed pattern illuminates the need for more research on tolerance of snakes in the United States, particularly in the southern region of the country where snake diversity tends to be highest (AZ Animals, 2022).…”

Section: Research Gaps and Study Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite these benefits, humans often treat snakes with hostility and animosity, contributing to global population declines among many snake species (Gibbons et al, 2000;Prokop et al, 2009). Negative public perceptions of snakes associated with intense fear, disdain, and misunderstanding fuel persecution of snakes around the world (Fredrikson et al, 1996;Knight, 2008;LoBue and DeLoache, 2008;Souchet and Aubret, 2016;Radlováet al, 2019;Kontsiotis et al, 2022). Although the probability of dying from a snake bite is close to zero (Morgan et al, 2004;Langley et al, 2014;Chippaux, 2017), fear of snakes and snakebites is among the most prevalent animal phobias (Agras et al, 1969;Pandey et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Factors associated with human tolerance of snakes in the southeastern United States

Vaughn

Larson²,

Peterson³

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conservation of snakes is influenced by humans’ beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors toward these often-maligned animals. We investigated public attitudes toward snakes through an online survey of undergraduate students (n = 743) at a large public university in a southeastern U.S. state. We used behavioral intent (i.e., how a person would react if they encountered a snake) to assess tolerance of different snake species. We also examined various predictors of tolerance including demographic attributes and a variety of cognitive (e.g., knowledge, value orientations) and affective (e.g., emotions) social-psychological variables. Tolerance of snakes varied based on whether the snake was venomous or non-venomous: about 36% of students said they were likely to kill venomous snakes they encountered, compared with 9% who said they would kill non-venomous snakes and 21% of students who said they would kill snakes whose identity was uncertain. However, most students (54%) could not distinguish between venomous and non-venomous species. Value orientations and emotions were strong predictors of tolerance for snakes, suggesting snake outreach and management strategies should account for both cognitive and affective antecedents of behavior.

show abstract

Section: Measuring Tolerance Of Snakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Measuring Tolerance Of Snakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Factors Influencing Tolerance Of Snakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Gaps and Study Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Factors associated with human tolerance of snakes in the southeastern United States

Vaughn

Larson²,

Peterson³

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Addressing the challenge of wildlife conservation in urban landscapes by increasing human tolerance for wildlife

Puri,

Johannsen,

Goode

et al. 2024

People and Nature

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Urbanization is a key driver of global environmental change and is adversely impacting wildlife populations. Human tolerance for wildlife is critical to wildlife conservation in urban areas. Using metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, United States, as a case study, we investigated human tolerance for a range of different wildlife species. Almost half of the human–wildlife interactions that are reported to the state wildlife agency originate from metropolitan Atlanta, which is one of the fastest growing metropolises in the United States. We surveyed a representative sample of 1006 residents of metropolitan Atlanta in 2022. We found heterogeneity in respondents' tolerance for various species, although most respondents were intolerant of bobcats, coyotes, opossums and snakes. Respondents' tolerance for different species largely depended on their attitudes and emotions towards species, and their basic beliefs pertaining to wildlife and the relationships between humans and wildlife. We found some evidence that tolerance also depended on people's prior interactions with wildlife, their beliefs that they can mitigate conflicts with wildlife and their demographic characteristics. Our results suggest that communication that improves urban residents' attitudes towards wildlife and/or reinforces positive emotions towards wildlife may increase wildlife tolerance in urban areas. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

show abstract

Attitudes and behaviors toward snakes in the snake charmer community: A case from northern Bangladesh

Islam

Aktar²,

Bindajam³

et al. 2023

Environ Dev Sustain

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Public attitudes towards venomous and non-venomous snakes

Cited by 14 publications

References 42 publications

Factors associated with human tolerance of snakes in the southeastern United States

Factors associated with human tolerance of snakes in the southeastern United States

Addressing the challenge of wildlife conservation in urban landscapes by increasing human tolerance for wildlife

Attitudes and behaviors toward snakes in the snake charmer community: A case from northern Bangladesh

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About