ANTHROPOMORPHISM OF NATURE AND EFFICACY IN COPING WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

One of the psychological barriers to conservation actions is people's disbelief in the effectiveness of their actions. With reference to the social psychological literature, the present research examines the role of anthropomorphism in empowering people. As shown in two survey studies, participants with a stronger dispositional tendency to anthropomorphize nature possessed a stronger belief in their capacity to understand and predict the environmental crisis, and the efficacy of their actions in resolving the environmental crisis. Furthermore, action efficacy mediates the relationship between dispositional anthropomorphism of nature and conservation behavior. An experiment then demonstrated that for participants who had strong desire for control, reading an environmental message that represented nature in an anthropomorphic manner enhanced their action efficacy, and in turn motivated them to perform conservation behavior. Taken together, these findings highlight the potency of anthropomorphism in mobilizing conservation efforts, and the role of efficacy in how people respond to other global, modern crises.