Diverging Attitudes Towards Predators: Do Environmental Beliefs Play a Part?

Article Abstract:

"Human ecology is concerned with how humans adapt to a changing environment. Environmental change is often manifested as conflicts over the meaning and use of natural resources. Successful resource management is becoming increasingly dependent upon knowledge about how conflicts are constructed, and this entails identifying attitudes and beliefs held by various interest groups. This paper describes results from a study of environmental beliefs and attitudes towards large carnivores among sheep farmers, wildlife managers, and research biologists in Norway. The New Ecological Paradigm scale was tested, and environmental beliefs were found to be relatively stable across the three groups comprising two distinct dimensions. For the overall sample, positive attitudes toward large carnivores generally correlated with pro-environmental beliefs, while negative attitudes towards carnivores correlated with the general belief that humans are exceptional in relation to nature. While there are smaller differences among the three groups of respondents, sheep farmers endorse pro-ecological beliefs less than wildlife managers and research biologists. Information about the environmental beliefs of different cultures involved in disputes over resources can help explain the nature of resource conflicts. Improved knowledge of the ‘meaning’ of resources can be salient in terms of understanding how different interest groups adapt to environmental change."