Exploring whether and how empathy for animals may lead to conservation behaviors

Empathy is the capacity to understand another person's perspective and feel what that person feels. This is a learned trait that can be nurtured (but also hindered) through life experiences. Positive empathy has been linked to prosocial behaviors, such as volunteering time or helping someone in need, and may be an important driver of pro-environmental actions. Research suggests that animal-oriented learning institutions—including zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries, and nature centers—may be uniquely positioned to spark and nurture people's empathy for animals. These venues offer visitors multisensory experiences with wildlife and elicit emotional responses, both of which can foster empathy development. Many animal learning institutions are grounded in the idea that as people develop deeper empathy for animals, they are more likely to engage in conservation and animal protection actions. These actions can be big or small and might include supporting wildlife conservation organizations, recycling, composting, or volunteering at a local park. This study explored the links between people, animals, empathy, and conservation behaviors.

For this study, the authors were primarily interested in exploring five areas: (1) the relationship between empathy and conservation behavior; (2) best practices for helping children develop empathy toward animals; (3) whether empathy toward individual animals translates into empathy for larger populations of animals; (4) how anthropomorphism (applying human traits to animals or inanimate objects) of animals impacts empathy development; and (5) empathy measurement tools. Through the lens of their five interests, the authors reviewed the current (but limited) literature on empathy toward animals. They also reached out to seven conservation psychology experts with specialties in empathy toward animals. These experts were professors, researchers, zoo leaders, and conservation leaders and were from the United States and China. The authors conducted interviews with each of the experts over the phone, through video conference, or in-person. They identified themes within each of the five areas of interest.

Although this research did not definitively identify links between people, animals, empathy, and conservation behaviors, the evidence indicated that developing empathy toward animals can be a powerful way to promote conservation behaviors. The authors found limited evidence for the third area of interest (whether empathy toward individual animals translates into empathy for larger populations of animals), and very few studies about their fifth area of interest (empathy measurement tools). They did, however, collect data from both interviews and literature related to their other three areas of interest. These findings are outlined below.

Regarding their first area of interest, the authors found that empathy can be an internal motivator that encourages a person to conservation action. The degree to which empathy leads to action depends on the action required. For example, a person who feels empathy toward animals may be moved to offer a bowl of water to a hot and thirsty dog. Similarly, an empathetic person may be inspired to support an oil spill cleanup operation after hearing about the spill's impacts on local wildlife. Feeling empathy toward animals may not, however, drive a person to take action on an issue that is somewhat removed from their empathetic feelings. For example, a person who feels deep empathy for local wildlife may not be inspired to support a remote anti-drilling campaign, but that person might be more inclined to support a local park they visit regularly.

The authors also found that, for the purposes of encouraging conservation and animal protection behaviors, it is important that people feel empathy toward animals and that the empathy stem from a sound understanding of the animal. They call this “accurate empathy” and define it as correctly placed empathy based on knowledge about the animal and its habitat. Additionally, though all living creatures have varying abilities to elicit empathy—for example, it may be easier for some people to feel empathy toward a dog than toward a spider—it is important to foster empathy toward all animals. The authors found that certain practices help people develop empathy. Using pronouns like he and she, as opposed to it, when talking about animals can encourage the development of empathetic feelings. Shifting cultural narratives can also help build empathy. For instance, instead of portraying certain animals as scary or bad (e.g., wolves, sharks, spiders), changing the narrative to portray the beneficial qualities of these animals can promote empathy.

In terms of barriers to developing accurate empathy, the authors found that eliciting too much emotion for too long could have unintended consequences and lead people to put up emotional barriers, thereby hindering empathy development. They also found mixed evidence regarding anthropomorphizing animals. On one hand, animals do not experience the world in the same ways that humans do and projecting human emotions onto animals might prove detrimental. For example, “inaccurate empathy” can lead people to “rescue” an animal that does not need rescuing. Or, it can create a false sense of comradery with an animal—like a bear—that can have negative consequences. On the other hand, when applied in circumstances where animal experiences are closely aligned with human experiences, anthropomorphism can help people develop empathy. It may inspire deeper consideration of animals and a desire to protect them, thereby leading to conservation actions. Overall, the authors emphasize that anthropomorphism can spark feelings of empathy, but it must be used thoughtfully.

This study was limited by the lens through which the authors conducted the interviews and literature review. The authors believe that zoos, aquariums, nature centers, and other animal learning institutions are good places to spark and foster empathy toward animals. Their research methods reflect this belief and do not explore other perspectives. For example, their research does not consider the perspective that zoos, etc. are inherently unable to foster accurate empathy because animals living there have very different experiences from animals in the wild. Similarly, this study does not explore the possible power differential between animals and humans at places like zoos, nor does it consider how this power differential might impact empathy development. Additionally, the links between empathy for animals and conservation behaviors is a relatively new area of research; thus, existing evidence is limited.

The authors recommend that animal learning institutions implement best practices to build empathy in their visitors. First, institutions should be thoughtful about framing animals by using he/she pronouns and accurate anthropomorphism to describe them. Second, the authors recommend modeling empathy for animals and nature. For example, an aquarium educator models empathy when they intervene to stop a person from banging on the glass of an aquarium; they may also explain that the aquarium is the animal's home and such banging is scary, unkind, and an infringement on the animal's safe space. Third, encouraging people to use their imaginations to picture themselves in another's situation (e.g., a gazelle running free in the wild) can help build empathy.