Participation in conservation citizen science projects is growing rapidly and approaches to project design are diversifying. There has been a recent shift towards projects characterised by contributors collecting data in isolation and submitting findings online, with little training or opportunities for direct social interaction with other citizen scientists. While research is emerging on developing citizen science projects by optimising technological modalities, little consideration has been given to understanding what motivates individuals to voluntarily contribute data. Here, we use the Volunteer Functions Inventory, combined with open-ended questions, to demonstrate that the two strongest motivations underpinning participation, for both individuals who contribute data systematically (regularly; n = 177) and opportunistically (ad hoc basis; n = 218), are ‘Values’ and ‘Understanding’. People take part in such projects because they have an intrinsic value for the environment and want to support research efforts (representing ‘Values’), as well as wanting to learn and gain knowledge (signifying ‘Understanding’). Unlike more traditional citizen science projects that involve specific training and considerable time investments, contributors to these newer types of project are not motivated by the potential to develop their career or opportunities for social interaction. The person-level characteristics of contributors considered in this study did not reliably forecast levels of motivation, suggesting that predicting high levels of motivation is inherently more complex than is often speculated. We recommend avenues for future research that may further enhance our understanding of contributor motivations and the characteristics that may underpin levels of motivation.

中文翻译：

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什么激励群众：理解人们为什么为保护公民科学项目做出贡献

参与保护公民科学项目的人数正在迅速增加，项目设计的方法也在多样化。最近出现了一种项目，其特点是贡献者单独收集数据并在线提交研究结果，几乎没有培训或与其他公民科学家进行直接社交互动的机会。虽然通过优化技术模式来开发公民科学项目的研究正在兴起，但很少考虑了解是什么促使个人自愿贡献数据。在这里，我们使用志愿者功能清单，结合开放式问题，来证明支持参与的两个最强烈动机，对于系统地（定期；n = 177）和机会主义（临时基础；n = 218)，是“价值观”和“理解”。人们参与此类项目是因为他们对环境具有内在价值并希望支持研究工作（代表“价值观”），以及希望学习和获得知识（意味着“理解”）。与涉及特定培训和大量时间投资的更传统的公民科学项目不同，这些新型项目的贡献者不受职业发展潜力或社会互动机会的激励。本研究中考虑的贡献者的个人层面特征并不能可靠地预测动机水平，这表明预测高动机水平本质上比通常推测的更复杂。