Identity Processes and Support for Biodiversity
Conservation
Giuseppe Carrus
18th iaps Conference Wien, 7-10 July 2004
Dipartimento di Psicologia dei Processi di Sviluppo e Socializzazione
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 2
Biodiversity conservation and protected areas
• Protected areas: main tool for coping with biodiversity loss
• Major barrier to protected areas: opposition of local communities
• Worthy issue for EP: studying social psychological factors driving support/ opposition to protected areas
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 3
Biodiversity conservation and protected areas
• Protected areas: main tool for coping with biodiversity loss
• Major barrier to protected areas: opposition of local communities
• Worthy issue for EP: studying social psychological factors driving support/ opposition to protected areas
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 4
Biodiversity conservation and protected areas
• Protected areas: main tool for coping with biodiversity loss
• Major barrier to protected areas: opposition of local communities
• Worthy issue for EP: studying social psychological factors driving support/ opposition to protected areas
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 5
Support/opposition for protected areas
3 domains of social psychological research
• Environmental concern
• Commons dilemmas
• Identity processes
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 6
Support/opposition for protected areas
3 domains of social psychological research
• Environmental concern
• Commons dilemmas
• Identity processes
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 7
Support/opposition for protected areas
3 domains of social psychological research
• Environmental concern
• Commons dilemmas
• Identity processes
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 8
Support/opposition for protected areas
1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN
The diffusion of pro-environmental attitudes should lead to generalized support for of protected areas
2 SOCIAL DILEMMAS
Dilemmas upon natural resources exploitation should lead to opposition for protected areas
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 9
Support/opposition for protected areas
1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN
The diffusion of pro-environmental attitudes should lead to generalized support for of protected areas
2 SOCIAL DILEMMAS
Dilemmas upon natural resources exploitation should lead to opposition for protected areas
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 10
Identity and opposition to protected areas
2 recent empirical studies
S. Stoll-Kleemann, JEP 2001Group processes encouraging social identity + resource dilemmas as major barriers to protected areas in Germany
Bonaiuto et al., JOEP 2001Negative correlations between regional identification & local attachment and support for protected areas in Italy
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 11
Identity and opposition to protected areas
2 recent empirical studies
S. Stoll-Kleemann, JEP 2001Group processes encouraging social identity + resource dilemmas as major barriers to protected areas in Germany
Bonaiuto et al., JOEP 2002Negative correlations between regional identification & local attachment and support for protected areas in Italy
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 12
Identity and support for protected areas
• Recent empirical evidence: high place-identity (Uzzell et al., E&B 2002) predicts pro-env conducts
• The status of “protected area” should enhance the distinctiveness of a place
• PIT and SIT: high-identifiers tend to favor their in-place or in-groups, as long as they provide optimal distinctiveness
• Stoll-Kleeman’s and Bonaiuto et al.’s studies dealt with top-down designated protected areas: what if there is more local involvement?
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 13
Identity and support for protected areas
• Recent empirical evidence: high place-identity (Uzzell et al., E&B 2002) predicts pro-env conducts
• The status of “protected area” should enhance the distinctiveness of a place
• PIT and SIT: high-identifiers tend to favor their in-place or in-groups, as long as they provide optimal distinctiveness
• Stoll-Kleeman’s and Bonaiuto et al.’s studies dealt with top-down designated protected areas: what if there is more local involvement?
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 14
Identity and support for protected areas
• Recent empirical evidence: high place-identity (Uzzell et al., E&B 2002) predicts pro-env conducts
• The status of “protected area” should enhance the distinctiveness of a place
• PIT and SIT: high-identifiers tend to favor their in-place or in-groups, as long as they provide optimal distinctiveness
• Stoll-Kleeman’s and Bonaiuto et al.’s studies dealt with top-down designated protected areas: what if there is more local involvement?
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 15
Identity and support for protected areas
• Recent empirical evidence: high place-identity (Uzzell et al., E&B 2002) predicts pro-env conducts
• The status of “protected area” should enhance the distinctiveness of a place
• PIT and SIT: high-identifiers tend to favor their in-place or in-groups, as long as they provide optimal distinctiveness
• Stoll-Kleeman’s and Bonaiuto et al.’s studies dealt with top-down designated protected areas: what if there is more local involvement?
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 16
Main research question
Which is the role of local identification in driving people response to protected
area designation?
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General contextProtected area designated by local institutions in 1997 (Regional Administration & Sardinian Mining Agency)
Aim of protecting and recovering old extraction sites abandoned since mining industry crisis
Local communities involved since early phases of the park designation
St 1- The Geominerarian Park of Sardinia
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AimsAssessing the role of env concern, general attitudes toward protected areas & regional identification in predicting support for the Geominerarian Park
HypRegional identification positively predicts support for the specific park independently of the other attitude measures
St 1- The Geominerarian Park of Sardinia
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Participants:316 Sardinian residents balanced for socio-demo characteristics
Measures:Self-administered questionnaire, Likert scales adapted from previous studies
St 1- The Geominerarian Park of Sardinia
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Measure Cronbach’s
1. environmental concern (6 NEP scale items) .47
2. attitudes toward parks in general .86
3. regional identity (F1 – empowerment) .78
4. regional identity (F2 – pride) .64
5. support for the specific park .91
St 1 – scale reliability
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SUPPORT FOR SPECIFIC PARK
gender
residence
environmental concern
regional empowerment
Regional pride
attitudes parks in general
age
St 1 – Multiple regression
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gender
residence
environmental concern
regional empowerment
regional pride
attitudes parks in general
age
St 1 – Multiple regression
n.s.
n.s.
n.s.
n.s.
n.s.
.14
.46
SUPPORT FOR SPECIFIC PARK
R2 = .25
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General context & measures: Similar to St #1
Participants: 157 subjects
Aims & Hyp: Confirming results of St #1
Analyses : Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
St 2 - The Archaeological Park of Gravina
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 24
St 2 – scale reliability
Measure
1. environmental concern (complete NEP scale) .67
2. attitudes toward parks in general .82
3. regional empowerment .77
4. regional pride .78
5. support for the specific park .93
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 25
St 2 – SEM with latent variables
.42
.30
.64
.35
2 (86) = 131.7 p = .001 RMSEA = .06
NNFI =.94 SRMR = .08 CFI = .95
ATTITUDES PARKSIN GENERAL
.87
.68
.79
SUPPORT FOR SPECIFIC PARK
.92
.90
.90
ENVIR CONCERN
.87
.87
.87
REGIONALPRIDE
.87
.87
.87
REGIONALEMPWRMNT
.87
.87
.87
N = 141
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 26
Concluding remarks
Increasing support for Hyp across St #1 & St #2 > reliability - more explained var. - bigger effect size
Strong local identity positively predicts support for specific parks
Need of involving local communities via inclusive and participatory deliberation
Future studies: testing causal relations through experimental designs (e.g. manipulating identity salience; using scenarios)
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 27
Concluding remarks
Increasing support for Hyp across St #1 & St #2 > reliability - more explained var. - bigger effect size
Strong local identity positively predicts support for specific parks
Need of involving local communities via inclusive and participatory deliberation
Future studies: testing causal relations through experimental designs (e.g. manipulating identity salience; using scenarios)
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 28
Concluding remarks
Increasing support for Hyp across St #1 & St #2 > reliability - more explained var. - bigger effect size
Strong local identity positively predicts support for specific parks
Need of involving local communities via inclusive and participatory deliberation
Future studies: testing causal relations through experimental designs (e.g. manipulating identity salience; using scenarios)
G. Carrus - 18th iaps Conference - Wien, 7-10 Jul 2004 29
Concluding remarks
Increasing support for Hyp across St #1 & St #2 > reliability - more explained var. - bigger effect size
Strong local identity positively predicts support for specific parks
Need of involving local communities via inclusive and participatory deliberation
Future studies: testing causal relations through experimental designs (e.g. manipulating identity salience; using scenarios)