Linking social identity,risk perception,and behavioral psychology to understand predator management by livestock producers

Human behaviors can determine the success of efforts to restore predators to ecosystems. While behaviors such as lethal predator control may impede predator restoration, other land management practices can facilitate coexistence between predators and humans. Socio‐psychological theories provide useful tools for understanding and improving these human behaviors. We explore three frameworks to understand what shapes Australian livestock graziers' behaviors with regards to management of the threat that dingoes pose to livestock. These frameworks are the theory of reasoned action (incorporating values and beliefs about dingoes), the social identity approach, and perception of risk. We distributed a survey to Australian graziers by mail and online (n = 138) which allowed recording of information on these three frameworks and their engagement in lethal dingo control. Among the respondents, we found that all three frameworks were linked with lethal dingo control when assessed individually, but when combined in a hierarchical regression, only social identity (specifically, identifying as an “environmentalist” or “pest controller”) was significant in predicting behavior. This result reveals the strength of social norms and normative beliefs over perceived risk in shaping behavior. As such, social identity is a useful metric for predicting and understanding environmental management behavior. Determining what these social identities mean in a given context is important for identifying how to implement behavior change to promote evidence‐based management that facilitates restoration of wildlife such as predators to landscapes where conflict with humans occurs.     

Eating Metropolitaneity: Hong Kong Identity in yumcha

In Hong Kong, yumcha as a pervasive form of eating in the public has become an institution which epitomises the diversity and inclusiveness that Hong Kong people think are quintessential to the civility and economic achievement of the metropolis. It stands out particularly as a practice that has come to represent both locally and overseas a Hong Kong culture which has previously been characterised as residual of ‘Chinese tradition’ and ‘Western customs’, and hence is virtually non-existent. This paper looks at the consumption of metropolitaneity and the culturalisation of the heunggongyan or Hong Kong personal identity in the form, content and social relations involved in yumcha. It points to the significance of yumcha as a key to understanding a collective identity which has become more and more apparent as Hong Kong people vehemently try to establish a city with its own culture, first against the colonial grip and then the return of sovereignty to China in 1997.     

Beliefs About Weight Gain and Attitudes Toward Relapse in a Sample of Women and Men with Obesity

Objective : The purpose of this study was to examine beliefs regarding reasons for weight gain, likely responses to weight loss relapse, notions of reasonable weight loss, and correlations between beliefs and attitudes in a large nonclinical sample of men and women with obesity. Research Methods and Procedures : Participants were 3,394 white women (n= 1,674) and men (n = 1,720) with obesity who had responded to a survey about body image and eating behaviors conducted by Consumer Reports magazine. Results : Women and men indicated that the most important reasons for their weight gain were lack of exercise and enjoying eating; the least important reason was a need to avoid social or sexual situations. Both groups reported that their most likely response to relapse is to start watching food intake, whereas their least likely response is to ask a friend, spouse, or family member for help. Women rated depression, stress, low self-esteem, and need to avoid situations as more important reasons for their weight gain than did men, and women were more likely to feel terrible and regain as a response to relapse. There was no relationship between an individual's beliefs about weight gain, responses to relapse, or notions of reasonable weight loss. Discussion : Implications of these findings for the treatment of obesity are discussed.     

Cognitive Change in Obese Adolescents Losing Weight

Objectives: To investigate how obese adolescents think about themselves in terms of exercise, eating, and appearance and whether these cognitions change over the course of a residential weight loss camp. Research Methods and Procedures: Obese adolescents [N = 61; age, 14.1 (±0.2) years; BMI, 33.9 (±0.7) kg/m²] completed assessments of body weight and height and self‐esteem and a sentence‐completion test eliciting thoughts and beliefs about exercise, eating, and appearance at the start and end of the camp (mean stay, 26 days). They were compared with a single assessment of 20 normal‐weight adolescents [age, 15.4 (±0.2) years; BMI, 21.8 (±0.5) kg/m²]. Results: The obese adolescents lost 5.7 kg and reduced their BMI SD score by 0.25. Camp residence was associated with a significant reduction in the number of negative automatic thoughts and an increase in positive thoughts, especially related to exercise and appearance. There was no change in conditional beliefs, either functional or dysfunctional. Including BMI SD score change as a covariate took away all the main and interaction effects of time, showing that cognitive change was largely accounted for by the reduction in weight. Despite this improvement, campers remained cognitively more negative and dysfunctional than the normal‐weight comparison adolescents. Discussion: Obese adolescents not only lost weight, but they improved their self‐representation, specifically in terms of automatic thoughts about exercise and appearance. Although these are short‐term cognitive changes, they reflect positively on the camp experience and show the value of psychological improvement in assessing obesity‐treatment outcomes.     

A view from the other side: the place of spirits in the Tongan social field

Spirits are part of everyday life in the Kingdom of Tonga. This study explores beliefs about the supernatural by analyzing discourse on spirits and death and by examining two examples of contemporary cultural practice related to spirits and death. The anthropological concepts of the body and its cultural construction and of thirdspace as a landscape of the Tongan islands that emerges out of the physical and the perceived provide the framework for this investigation. Research findings suggest that spirits participate in the natural order of Tongan society and thus serve to help maintain cultural identity in the face of uncertain social change and a popular but contested prodemocracy movement. Spirits also function as a system of representation, mirroring an image of an ideal self, something that is continually under negotiation. Encounters between spirits of ancestors and their living descendants suggest an uneasy acceptance of death and a sense of irony about its inevitability.     

Sentient Beings and Wildlife Resources: Inuit,Beluga Whales and Management Regimes in the Canadian Arctic

Beluga whale hunting is one of the most social subsistence hunting activities to take place in the Canadian Arctic. Through the harvest, distribution and consumption of beluga whales, Inuit identity and social relationships are affirmed. The whale-hunting complex is influenced by beliefs that beluga whales are sentient beings who inhabit a shared social space with humans. Yet, across the region beluga whales are perceived by wildlife managers as scarce resources and as such require protection through the imposition of management plans. There is currently no management of whales on the west coast of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut. In 2002, Inuit there were requested to sell part of their whale harvest to Inuit in Nunavik, northern Quebec, where hunting quotas exist. The outcome of this event was concern in Nunavut for the future of the whale hunt, and a deepening sense of powerlessness in Nunavik due to the management of the whale harvest.

Diet and Prey Selection of Dholes in Evergreen and Deciduous Forests of Southeast Asia

Endangered dholes (Cuon alpinus) are restricted to small and declining populations in Southeast Asia, and little is known about how their ecology differs within the region. We used DNA-confirmed scats and prey surveys to determine the seasonal diet and prey selection of dholes in 2 different landscapes that dominate Southeast Asia: closed evergreen forests in hilly terrain in northern Laos, and open deciduous forests in relatively flat terrain in eastern Cambodia. On both sites, muntjac (Muntiacus spp.; 20–28 kg) was the dominant prey item and was selectively consumed over other ungulates in all seasons. Our findings differ from previous conclusions, based largely on studies from India, that the preferred prey weight range of dholes was either 40–60 kg or 130–190 kg. Other important prey were sambar (Rusa unicolor) in Laos, and wild pig (Sus scrofa) and banteng (Bos javanicus) in Cambodia. Seasonal differences in overall diet occurred in Laos, but not Cambodia, primarily because of an increase in livestock consumption. The mean number of dhole scats in group defecation sites was higher in Cambodia (5.9 ± 0.5 [SE]) than Laos (2.4 ± 0.2), suggesting pack sizes were larger in Cambodia. Our results suggest that regardless of land cover type, prey diversity, or pack size, the management of muntjac will be important for conserving dhole populations in Southeast Asia. In Laos, we recommend that local villagers remove livestock from the protected area during the hot-dry season to reduce livestock predation by dholes. © 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.     

The nutritional consequences of rejecting food in the Ituri Forest of Zaire

Based on a representative sample of 449 different individuals, food avoidances are shown to be nutritionally insignificant on average for a population of horticulturalists and foragers living in the Ituri Forest of northeastern Zaire. However, due to variability in food-related beliefs, nutritional costs may be biologically significant for a few individuals. Less than 2% of potential dietary calories are restricted to horticulturalists on average due to food avoidances, while less than 1% is the average cost of these beliefs among foragers. When nutritional costs are calculated from reported avoidance rules rather than consumption practice, estimated costs are significantly inflated. These lower actual costs arise because individuals make use of rules that permit them to eat otherwise restricted foods. For example, eating specific plants is believed to prevent the illness that would otherwise follow the consumption of a tabooed food. Use of such exception rules significantly reduces the nutritional cost of food avoidances for many individuals in this population.     

Collective Factors Reinforce Individual Contributions to Human-Wildlife Coexistence

Conserving large carnivores while keeping people safe depends on finding means for peaceful coexistence. Although large carnivore populations are generally declining globally, some populations are increasing, causing greater overlap with humans and increasing potential for conflict. One method of reducing conflict with large carnivores is to secure attractants like garbage and livestock. This method is effective when implemented; however, implementation requires a change in human behavior. Human-wildlife interaction is a public good collective action problem where solutions require contributions from many and individual actions have effects on others. We used the collective interest model to investigate how individual and collective factors work in concert to influence landowner attractant securing behavior in Montana, USA, in black (Ursus americanus) and grizzly bear (U. arctos) range. We used data from a mail-back survey to develop logistic regression models testing the relative effects of collective and individual factors on landowners' attractant securing behaviors. The most important factor was whether individuals had spoken to a wildlife professional, a reflection of social coordination and pressure. Other collective factors (e.g., social norms [i.e., expectations and behaviors of peers] and the existence of discussion networks [i.e., how much social influence an individual has]) were equally important as individual factors (e.g., beliefs, age, gender) for influencing attractant securing behavior among Montana landowners. This research suggests pathways for wildlife managers and outreach coordinators to increase attractant securing behavior by emphasizing collective factors, such as social norms, rather than appealing exclusively to individual factors, such as risk perception of large carnivores. Furthermore, wildlife agencies would be justified in increasing their efforts to connect with landowners in person and to connect with members of the public who play an important role in discussion networks. This research demonstrates that, even on private lands, collective interests may be a missing and important piece of the puzzle for encouraging voluntary attractant securing behavior and improving wildlife-human coexistence. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.     

Belief and Behavior Aspects of the EAT-26: The Case of Schoolgirls in Belize

This study investigates components of eating attitudes in a sample of Belizean schoolgirls and argues for separate analysis of eating beliefs and eating behaviors using the EAT-26 in populations undergoing rapid cultural change. The EAT-26 was utilized in a novel manner, preserving the ethnographic and empirical distinction between belief and behavior components of eating attitudes. Participants included a sample of secondary schoolgirls (n = 80) undergoing acculturative stress. Participants reported more disordered eating beliefs than behaviors. Respondents having higher belief scores than behavior scores were more likely to prefer thinner body build and to be concerned about boys’ assessments of their bodies. Girls with higher behavior scores were less likely to report eating when hungry and stopping when full. In conclusion, discriminant validity was found between attitudinal and behavioral aspects of the EAT-26 as evidenced by face validity and patterns in predicting body image preference and desired weight change. Such a distinction has implications for assessing risk for disordered eating among populations undergoing acculturative stress. Among such populations, while behavioral symptoms might be absent or present in subclinical levels, disordered beliefs associated with psychological distress or potential precursors to eating-disordered behavior might be detected and should be investigated further.     

Effect of retirement on eating out and weight change: an analysis of gender differences

Objectives: The objectives were to understand how the retirement decisions of older Americans influence household food consumption patterns by gender and, in turn, to examine the impact of the change in food consumption on weight. Research Methods and Procedures: This study used five waves of the Health and Retirement Study (1992 to 2002; n = 28,117). Participants were 50 to 71 years old during the study period. We used longitudinal regression analyses controlling for health events, spousal factors, socioeconomic factors, and individual fixed effects over time. Results: Retirement of the individual and of his/her spouse reduced the individual's monthly spending on eating out by $10 and $7 on average, respectively, but did not change household spending on food at home. The wife's, but not the husband's, retirement decreased the spouse's spending on eating out by $13/mo. Spending on eating out was a significant but weak (0.003BMI/$) predictor of weight gain. Discussion: The decrease in spending on eating out after retirement, particularly women's, suggests that people eat out less when they have more time for food preparation at home. However, increases in other risks of weight gain with retirement, such as physical inactivity, could counteract the effects of eating out less.     

Status and Conservation of Douc Langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) in Laos

A recent systematic survey program of protected areas in Laos documented douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) widely between 14°25N and 18°38N. Their precise northern limit is unclear as security constraints prevented survey there, but the species is unlikely to occur in Laos north of 20°. All our records are of the nominate, red-shanked form, P. n. nemaeus, though in the far south, greatly reduced red on the legs suggests intergradation with another form. Our records are overwhelmingly from evergreen or semievergreen forest and from a wide altitudinal range (200–1600 m). In most sites habitat was little degraded, but whether this reflects choice for such habitats, or the generally lower hunting pressure within them, is unclear. The largest population occurs over 3000 km ² of the Nam Theun basin and surroundings, encompassing the protected areas of Nakai-Nam Theun, Hin Namno and the proposed Nam Theun Extension. This is the most important population of red-shanked langurs in the world. Laos supports globally the vast majority of their conservable population. Douc langurs are threatened in Laos by habitat fragmentation increasing their vulnerability to the existing high hunting levels. They are a favored target for local consumption and for local and Vietnamese hunters and traders. Protective measures should center around implementing habitat conservation and antihunting measures in the recently-declared National Biodiversity Conservation Areas. A recent government initiative to reduce gun use in rural areas is likely to have a strong positive effect on the population. The best protection for some time will remain the inaccessibility of their habitat. Accordingly, road-building into remote forest and piecemeal clearance at its edges should thus be minimized. Cross-border attention should be given to wildlife trading, including measures to reduce market demand.     

Familial Resemblance in Eating Behaviors in Men and Women from the Quebec Family Study

Objective: It is commonly recognized that genetic, environmental, behavioral, and social factors are involved in the development of obesity. The family environment may play a key role in shaping children's eating behaviors. The purpose of this study was to estimate the degree of familial resemblance in eating behavioral traits (cognitive dietary restraint, disinhibition, and susceptibility to hunger). Research Methods and Procedures: Eating behavioral traits were assessed with the Three‐Factor Eating Questionnaire in 282 men and 402 women (202 families) from the Quebec Family Study. Familial resemblance for each trait (adjusted for age, sex, and BMI) was investigated using a familial correlation model. Results: The pattern of familial correlation showed significant spouse correlation for the three eating behavior phenotypes, as well as significant parent‐offspring and sibling correlations for disinhibition and susceptibility to hunger. According to the most parsimonious model, generalized heritability estimates (including genetic and shared familial environmental effects) reached 6%, 18%, and 28% for cognitive dietary restraint, disinhibition, and susceptibility to hunger, respectively. Discussion: These results suggest that there is a significant familial component to eating behavioral traits but that the additive genetic component appears to be small, with generalized heritability estimates ranging from 6% to 28%. Thus, non‐familial environmental factors and gene‐gene and gene‐environmental interactions seem to be the major determinants of the eating/behavioral traits.     

多学科视角下的野生动物消费需求和消费行为研究进展

全球持续扩张的野生动物消费需求和相关非法贸易是生物多样性保护的重要威胁之一。近期新冠肺炎疫情暴发, 野生动物贸易和食用的公共卫生安全风险也引起了社会各界的关注。本文从社会学、心理学、行为科学等多学科的视角分析和理解我国野生动物消费的需求动因, 提出科学的行为改变对策。从我国野生动物消费现状来看, 功能性、社会性和体验性等非生活必需性需求凸显, 并受复杂因素影响。基于对需求动因的理解, 运用合适的行为改变框架, 以及宣传教育、社会影响、法律规范和行为助推等多种行为改变方法, 通过科学系统的阶段和步骤, 可有效地影响和改变野生动物消费行为。行为改变对策的实施需在具体情境下加强合作, 重视多学科运用、多主体合作和多尺度考虑。     

Human Body-mass Index (Weight in kg/stature in m2) as a Useful Proxy to Assess the Relation between Income and Wildlife Consumption in Poor Rural Societies

There is growing interest in assessing how income influences the consumption of wildlife in poor rural areas of developing nations. The interest stems from the possibility of using income to contribute to the conservation of wildlife. Though promising, efforts have been hampered by the difficulty of obtaining accurate measures of income. We propose using human body-mass index (BMI: weight in kilograms/physical stature in m²), an indicator of short-term nutritional status, as a proxy variable for monetary income to estimate income elasticities of wildlife consumption (income elasticity: percent change in wildlife consumption/one-percent change income). The advantages of BMI over monetary income include a positive association with monetary income, ease of measurement, and absence of zero values. The assessment procedure was tested among Tsimane’ Amerindians, a society of foragers and farmers in the Bolivian Amazon. The population over 15 years of age (350 men and 322 women) in 13 villages was surveyed for five consecutive quarters (August 2002–November 2003). Income elasticities of wildlife consumption using BMI as a proxy for income ranged from −0.84 to −1.20. The estimates suggest that wildlife is a food item whose consumption declines with increasing income. Estimates of income elasticity of wildlife consumption using conventional indices of monetary income are negative, but lower and indistinguishable from zero owing to classical measurement errors of monetary income. The use of BMI to estimate income elasticities of wildlife consumption is promising, but requires further validation in different settings.     

Behavioral Weight Control for Overweight Adolescents Initiated in Primary Care

Objective: This study evaluates the post-treatment and short-term follow-up efficacy of, as well as participant satisfaction for, a 4-month behavioral weight control program for overweight adolescents initiated in a primary care setting and extended through telephone and mail contact. Research Methods and Procedures: 44 overweight adolescents were randomly assigned to either a multiple component behavioral weight control intervention (Healthy Habits [HH]; n = 23) or a single session of physician weight counseling (typical care [TC]; n = 21). Weight, height, dietary intake, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and problematic weight-related and eating behaviors and beliefs were assessed before treatment, after the 4-month treatment, and at 3-month follow-up. Participant satisfaction and behavioral skills use were measured. Results: HH adolescents evidenced better change in body mass index z scores to post-treatment than TC adolescents. Body mass index z scores changed similarly in the conditions from post-treatment through follow-up. Behavioral skills use was higher among HH than TC adolescents, and higher behavioral skills use was related to better weight outcome. Energy intake, percentage of calories from fat, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and problematic weight-related or eating behaviors/beliefs did not differ by condition or significantly change over time independent of condition. The behavioral intervention evidenced good feasibility and participant satisfaction. Discussion: A telephone- and mail-based behavioral intervention initiated in primary care resulted in better weight control efficacy relative to care typically provided to overweight adolescents. Innovative and efficacious weight control intervention delivery approaches could decrease provider and participant burden and improve dissemination to the increasing population of overweight youth.     

Beliefs about the Minds of Others Influence How We Process Sensory Information

Attending where others gaze is one of the most fundamental mechanisms of social cognition. The present study is the first to examine the impact of the attribution of mind to others on gaze-guided attentional orienting and its ERP correlates. Using a paradigm in which attention was guided to a location by the gaze of a centrally presented face, we manipulated participants'' beliefs about the gazer: gaze behavior was believed to result either from operations of a mind or from a machine. In Experiment 1, beliefs were manipulated by cue identity (human or robot), while in Experiment 2, cue identity (robot) remained identical across conditions and beliefs were manipulated solely via instruction, which was irrelevant to the task. ERP results and behavior showed that participants'' attention was guided by gaze only when gaze was believed to be controlled by a human. Specifically, the P1 was more enhanced for validly, relative to invalidly, cued targets only when participants believed the gaze behavior was the result of a mind, rather than of a machine. This shows that sensory gain control can be influenced by higher-order (task-irrelevant) beliefs about the observed scene. We propose a new interdisciplinary model of social attention, which integrates ideas from cognitive and social neuroscience, as well as philosophy in order to provide a framework for understanding a crucial aspect of how humans'' beliefs about the observed scene influence sensory processing.     

Effects of green tea consumption on human fecal microbiota with special reference to Bifidobacterium species

Green tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world. Its beneficial health effects and components have been extensively reviewed. However, little is known about the influence of green tea consumption on the human intestinal microbiota (HIM), which plays a crucial role in human health. Ten volunteers who did not usually consume green tea, drank it for 10 days and then stopped drinking it for 7 days. Their fecal samples were collected at three time points: before beginning the 10‐day green‐tea regime, at the conclusion of that 10 days, and 7 days after stopping the regime. Their fecal samples were analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism with specific primer‐restriction enzyme systems for HIM and by using a real‐time PCR method for the Bifidobacterium species. Although the HIM of each subject was relatively stable, the proportion of Bifidobacterium species played an important role in the classification of their fecal microbiota. Although there were inter‐individual differences in the Bifidobacterium species, an overall tendency for the proportion of bifidobacteria to increase because of green tea consumption was noted. However, little change was observed in the composition of Bifidobacterium species in each sample. This suggests that the change in proportion was induced, not by an inter‐species transition, but by an intra‐species increase and/or decrease. In conclusion, green tea consumption might act as a prebiotic and improve the colon environment by increasing the proportion of the Bifidobacterium species.