“Animals Like Us”: Identifying with Nonhuman Animals and Support for Nonhuman Animal Rights

While anthropomorphizing nonhuman animals has been shown to increase identification with them and, by extension, concern for their wellbeing, little research has directly tested whether identifying with nonhuman animals is similarly associated with concern for their wellbeing. We tested hypotheses related to this premise across three cross-sectional studies. In study 1 (n = 224), we tested the hypothesis that therians—a group of people who self-identify with nonhuman animals, show greater concern for nonhuman animal rights than non-therian furries—people with a fan-like interest in media featuring anthropomorphized animal characters. In study 2 (n = 206), we further tested this hypothesis using implicit and explicit measures of identification with nonhuman animals to predict behavioral intentions to support nonhuman animal rights. In study 3 (n = 182), we tested the generalizability of our findings in a sample of undergraduate students. Taken together, the studies show that explicit, but not implicit, identification with nonhuman animals predicts greater support for their rights. The implications of these findings for research on anthropomorphism and animal rights activism are discussed, as well as the limitations of these findings and possible avenues for future research.     

鹤岗市中小学生性健康教育现状的调查研究

目的:了解鹤岗市中小学生性健康教育现状,为进一步开展青春期性健康教育提供依据。方法:分层随机整群抽取鹤岗市1735名中小学生进行无记名问卷调查。结果:被调查的学生已具备一定的青春期性知识,但其知晓率仍偏低;性知识获取途径以社会媒体为主。大多数被调查者性生理发育状况良好,对青少年中发生的恋爱行为持宽容和理解的态度,而对婚前性行为持谨慎和保守态度。结论:今后应加大对性健康教育的宣传和投入,加强对中小学生的性道德教育。     

Identifying indicators of illegal behaviour: carnivore killing in human-managed landscapes

Managing natural resources often depends on influencing people's behaviour, however effectively targeting interventions to discourage environmentally harmful behaviours is challenging because those involved may be unwilling to identify themselves. Non-sensitive indicators of sensitive behaviours are therefore needed. Previous studies have investigated people's attitudes, assuming attitudes reflect behaviour. There has also been interest in using people's estimates of the proportion of their peers involved in sensitive behaviours to identify those involved, since people tend to assume that others behave like themselves. However, there has been little attempt to test the potential of such indicators. We use the randomized response technique (RRT), designed for investigating sensitive behaviours, to estimate the proportion of farmers in north-eastern South Africa killing carnivores, and use a modified logistic regression model to explore relationships between our best estimates of true behaviour (from RRT) and our proposed non-sensitive indicators (including farmers' attitudes, and estimates of peer-behaviour). Farmers' attitudes towards carnivores, question sensitivity and estimates of peers' behaviour, predict the likelihood of farmers killing carnivores. Attitude and estimates of peer-behaviour are useful indicators of involvement in illicit behaviours and may be used to identify groups of people to engage in interventions aimed at changing behaviour.     

A neurochemical approach to valuation sensitivity over gains and losses

Prospect theory proposes the hypothesis that people have diminishing sensitivity in valuing increases in the size of monetary outcomes, for both gains and losses. For decision-making under risk, this implies a tendency to be risk-tolerant over losses while being generally risk averse over gains. We offer a neurochemistry-based model of the diminishing valuation sensitivity hypothesis. Specifically, we propose that dopamine tone modulates the sensitivity towards valuation of gains while serotonin tone modulates the sensitivity towards valuation of losses. Consequently, higher dopamine tone would yield a more concave valuation function over gains while higher serotonin tone would yield a more convex valuation function over losses. Using a neurogenetics strategy to test our neurochemical model, we find that subjects with the 9-repeat allele of DAT1 (lower DA tone) are more risk-tolerant over gains than subjects with the 10-repeat allele, and that subjects with the 10-repeat allele of STin2 (higher 5HT tone) are more risk-tolerant over losses than subjects with the 12-repeat allele. Overall, our results support the implications of our model and provide the first neurogenetics evidence that risk attitudes are partially hard-wired in differentiating between gain- and loss-oriented risks.     

自然旅游地居民自然保护态度的影响因素——中国九寨沟和英国新森林国家公园的比较

居民的自然保护态度对自然旅游地的自然保护与旅游可持续发展至关重要,自然旅游地居民自然保护态度的影响因子及影响方式,已经成为自然旅游地管理的重要内容,但相关研究薄弱。以中国九寨沟和英国新森林国家公园(New Forest National Park,NF)为例,根据实地问卷调查数据,从两地居民的人口属性、旅游环保期望、旅游环境影响感知及旅游环境伦理观与其自然保护态度关系的角度,进行定量比较研究。研究发现:(1)两地居民的自然保护态度受不同因子的影响,存在明显的中外差异;(2)人口属性特征如性别、年龄、居住年限、教育水平及旅游业参与情况对新森林国家公园社区居民的自然保护态度没有影响;但性别、旅游业参与情况却影响九寨沟居民的自然保护态度,女性及旅游业参与者更支持对九寨沟进行自然保护;(3)新森林国家公园居民的自然保护态度受其旅游环保期望及旅游环境伦理观的影响:旅游环保期望较高、持保护主义环境伦理观的新森林国家公园居民,更有可能支持对新森林国家公园进行自然保护;(4)九寨沟居民的自然保护态度不受其旅游环保期望及旅游环境伦理的影响,但受其旅游环境影响感知的影响;居民的旅游环境影响感知越消极,越支持对九寨沟进行自然保护。     

Barriers to provision of dental care in long-term care facilities: the confrontation with ageing and death

Objective: The aim of the study was to reveal barriers to providing dental care for residents in long‐term care (LTC) facilities. Design: Participants were selected randomly from the dentist register in Berlin and Saxony, Germany. The sample consisted of 60 self‐employed and 60 employed dentists, a further 60 dentists worked in their own dental practice but also part‐time in an LTC facility. In semi‐structured interviews a questionnaire with 36 statements concerning working conditions, administration and cost, insecurity concerning treatment decisions as well as confrontation with ageing and death was employed. Subsequently, the study participants were asked to rank the four dimensions concerning their impact on the decision against providing dental care in an LTC facility. Results: The random sample was representative in age and gender for the dental register in Berlin and Saxony. Fifty‐six per cent of the participants (63% of the men and 51% of the women; 52% of the self‐employed, 60% of the employed and 56% of the consultant dentists) indicated unfavourable working conditions as biggest obstacle in providing dental care in an LTC‐facility. Thirty‐two per cent of participants rated administration and cost, 7% the insecurity in treatment decisions as major hindrance. Only 5% of the participants rated the confrontation with age and death as substantial barrier. There were no age and gender differences. Dentists in Berlin seemed more concerned about administration and cost of a consultancy activity and less secure in their therapy decisions than the colleagues from Saxony (p < 0.001). Dentists who work partly in LTC facilities were the least concerned about the confrontation with ageing and death (not significant), employed dentist showed the least secure in their treatment decisions (p > 0.001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the awareness of infra‐structural and financial aspects in providing dental care in LTC facilities should be raised with health politicians and that these aspects should be considered when inaugurating or re‐structuring the consultancy services to LTC facilities. Further it would be desirable to establish more postgraduate training programmes to increase clinical and ethical competence in the area of gerodontology.     

Understanding primate‐human interaction: Socioeconomic correlates of local awareness and attitude toward the endangered golden langur Trachypithecus geei (Khajuria, 1956) in Bhutan

Despite the golden langur's (Trachypithecus geei) endangered and totally protected status, local awareness and attitude toward this species is poorly understood. We investigated local awareness and attitude in Bhutan by interviewing 1,143 households in the districts of Dagana, Sarpang, Trongsa, Tsirang, and Zhemgang, and analyzing data through a conditional inference tree analysis. Most respondents were not aware of the golden langur's nationally protected (53%; n = 604) and globally endangered status (64%; n = 730), but their location of residence (inside/outside a protected area; p < .001) and education level (p < .001) significantly influenced awareness. The majority of respondents (87%; n = 999) liked the golden langur but the attitude was significantly influenced primarily by whether or not they experienced crop damage by golden langurs (p < .001), and subsequently by location of residence (p < .001), local belief (p < .01), gender (p < .05), and personal encounter with a golden langur (p < .001). Socioeconomic variables like age, education level, and annual income did not influence attitude. We recommend environmental education and awareness campaigns outside protected areas, and intensifying existing programs inside protected areas to forge harmonious human‐golden langur coexistence.     

Behaviors and Attitudes towards Semi-Owned Cats

ABSTRACT

The intentional provision of food, medical treatment and shelter by humans for a cat that is not considered to be owned by the individual is defined as “semi-ownership.” The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of such behaviors and the attitudes held by individuals who engage in them. The sample, comprising 424 residents from rural and non-rural Victoria, Australia, were surveyed in relation to their ownership status, practices, and attitudes towards companion animals. The findings revealed that 22% of the sample engaged in one or more cat semi-ownership behaviors; primarily feeding. Cat semi-ownership was associated with positive feelings towards cats, and the belief that cats are independent. Opportunities to engage cat semi-owners in education programs that promote responsible companion animal ownership behaviors were evident.     

Horse reactions to human attitudes and behavior

Abstract

To assess the effects of human confidence levels on horse behavior, 40 veterinary students led the same mare around a fixed course. Multivariate analysis of human attitudes and behavior and horse behavior showed that a positive attitude towards horses related to infrequent ear movement in that horse (accounting for 46% of variance); positive attitude, together with low lead tension, related to a horse's forward ear position (47%); loose lead tension related to both a horse's low resistance (66%) and low head position (11%). Human attitudes towards at least one horse is shown to be associated with changes in human behavior, which leads to altered behavior in that horse.