Entry

Undergraduate

Presentation Date

4-28-2017

Hosting Institution

California Polytechnic State University

Location

San Luis Obispo, California

Document Type

Presentation

Department

Psychology

Supporting Program

UROC

Faculty Mentor

Jennifer Dyer-Seymour

Keywords

perspective-taking, environmental concern, biospheric concern, conservation, pollution

Abstract

The present study tested the effectiveness of perspective-taking as a strategy to evoke environmental concern in visitors to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Visitors viewed one of two types of shows at the Aquarium: one show in which visitors were asked to take the perspective of the Laysan Albatross, a seabird threatened by plastic pollution; and a virtually identical show that did not encourage visitors to take the perspective of the bird. I hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in self-reported environmental concern in visitors who were asked to take the perspective of the threatened species of Albatross, compared to visitors that did not. Second, I hypothesized that visitors who were asked to take the perspective of the Albatross would have more biospheric concern than non-perspective-taking visitors. The goal of this study was to replicate the findings of Schultz (2000) in a field setting. Perspective-taking can be used as a tool by organizations outside of the psychological discipline to help repair the environment, which is essential if we hope to preserve it for future generations.

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Additional Files

Coffin_Sarah_CSU Research Competition Abstract.pdf (231 kB)
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