Abstract

Understanding social support for large carnivores’ recovery can guide policies governing human-predator interactions. We investigated the socio-psychological determinants of support for recovery of black bears, cougars, and gray wolves among residents of Illinois, USA. We contacted a random sample (n = 7,500) of Illinois residents using a repeat mail survey (34% response rate). Structural equation modeling results suggested that our respondents tend to rely more on mental shortcuts (i.e., emotions and social trust) than analytical mental processes (i.e., risk perception) in their judgments of large carnivores’ recovery. Findings of multigroup analysis suggested that similar psychological processes shape respondents’ support for recovery across species. However, among stakeholder groups, the findings implied a prominent role of trust in management agency for the public and hunters, whereas emotions were more influential in shaping hunters’ and livestock producers’ attitudes. We provide specific recommendations for management agencies to develop policies and conservation campaigns.

摘要

了解对大型食肉动物恢复的社会支持可以指导管理人类与捕食者互动的政策。我们调查了美国伊利诺伊州居民支持恢复黑熊、美洲狮和灰狼的社会心理决定因素。我们联系了一个随机样本（n = 7,500) 的伊利诺伊州居民使用重复邮件调查（34% 的响应率）。结构方程建模结果表明，我们的受访者在判断大型食肉动物的恢复时，往往更多地依赖心理捷径（即情绪和社会信任）而不是分析性心理过程（即风险感知）。多组分析的结果表明，相似的心理过程塑造了受访者对跨物种恢复的支持。然而，在利益相关者群体中，调查结果表明，公众和猎人对管理机构的信任扮演着重要角色，而情绪在塑造猎人和牲畜生产者的态度方面更有影响力。我们为管理机构制定政策和保护运动提供具体建议。