Hello animals, goodbye humans : the moderating role of nature relatedness in effect of the need to belong on animal conservation

• Main Author: Sew, Pei Xuan
• Other Authors: Kenichi Ito
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138136
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

One line of prior work suggests that individuals, who experience loneliness, may seek interpersonal connections with animals and nature in order to restore one’s belonging needs. From a different line of work, study suggests that people who feel a sense of affiliation to biodiversity are more inclined to promote animal conservation. By integrating the findings from these two lines of work, the present research established the moderating effect of nature relatedness on the relationship between the need to belong and animal conservation. The study hypothesized that the negative effect of belonging needs on animal conservation would be stronger for participants who report a high level of nature relatedness as compared to those who report a low level of nature relatedness. As predicted, the findings supported the hypothesis. Taken together, this research study highlighted the importance of human intrinsic factors – the need for belonging and the need for nature relatedness, in influencing animal conservation.