Experience with animals, religion, and social integration predict anthropomorphism across five countries

Abstract

Conservation efforts are largely dependent on the amount of public concern for wildlife protection. One of the factors that best predict willingness to support conservation projects is anthropomorphism. Here, we administered questionnaires to a cross-cultural sample (<i>N</i> = 741), including adult participants from Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and Spain, to investigate the drivers of inter-individual variation in anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism increased when participants had more "urban" experience with animals, lower social integration, higher allocentric tendencies, and lower formal education. Participants with higher exposure to monkeys were also less likely to attribute them the ability to feel pain, while considering them accountable for their actions. Religions emphasizing human similarity and inter-connection of all living beings predicted higher anthropomorphism, with the specific taxa and traits considered modulating these effects. Overall, this work contributes to better understanding the factors that explain variation in anthropomorphism and that might promote interest in other species and foster conservation efforts.

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