Empathy, by fostering understanding of the experiences and needs of animals, may promote conservation behaviorThis paper presents the findings of a review of the limited literature focusing on empathy for animals. This review also includes information gathered from interviews of seven experts in the field of conservation psychology. The aim of this review was to clarify areas in which conservation organizations impact, or could impact, the development of empathy for animals. While research on empathy often focuses on humans, there is a growing interest in its relationship with non-human animals. This interest is driven, in part, by the understanding that empathy towards others can influence the likelihood of pro-environmental behaviors as they relate to animals. Informal environmental education organizations – such as zoos, aquariums, museums, and animal sanctuaries and shelters -- represent “hot zones” for empathy development, as such organizations often provide opportunities for people to develop close relationships with individual animals.
Empathy is defined in this paper as “a stimulated emotional state that relies on the ability to perceive, understand and care about the experiences or perspectives of another person or animal.” A related term, “accurate empathy,” refers to an empathic response that is based on substantive knowledge of an animal’s natural history. Empathy without such knowledge can lead to actions not in the best interests of the animal.
The seven experts interviewed for this study have over a hundred peer-review articles relating to human/animal relationships. Their responses were analyzed in relation to five pre-set areas of interest:(1) the relationship between empathy and conservation behavior, (2) best practices for fostering children’s empathy towards animals, (3) the potential for extending empathy for individual animals to entire species, (4) the role of anthropomorphism in empathy development, and (5) existing assessment tools and strategies for measuring empathy development in informal learning settings.
Findings indicate that empathy can be a factor in motivating and predicting an individual’s willingness to take conservation action. The likelihood of taking action, however, depends on the desired behavior. If the desired behavior is closely linked to the experience of an animal, empathy is more likely to elicit a response. Findings also indicate that empathy develops over time and is reinforced through interactions with the world. In addition to the physical characteristics and behaviors of specific animals, other factors influencing the development of accurate empathy include (1) how language and narrative are used and (2) the tendency to project our understandings and experiences onto others. Anthropomorphism -- assigning human characteristics and purposes to inanimate objects, non-human animals, or plants – is a type of projection which can both help and hinder the development of accurate empathy. Themes relating to best practices for developing empathy include framing the narrative and information given, getting to know and providing care for others, providing empathy role-models, and activating the imagination. Of these, activating the imagination is the most well-researched method and includes such strategies as storytelling, role-playing, and mimicry.
This research shows that home, the community and cultural environments help shape an individual’s empathic values and abilities. Findings support other studies suggesting that empathy can play an important role in promoting conservation behavior.
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