Fostering ocean empathy through future scenarios

Jessica Blythe; Julia Baird; Nathan Bennett; Gillian Dale; Kirsty L Nash; Gary Pickering; Colette C. C. Wabnitz

doi:10.1002/pan3.10253

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Fostering ocean empathy through future scenarios

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Fostering ocean empathy through future scenarios

Jessica Blythe, Julia Baird, Nathan Bennett, Gillian Dale, Kirsty L Nash, Gary Pickering and Colette C. C. Wabnitz

People and Nature, Vol.3(6), pp.1284-1296

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10253

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Abstract

empathy

oceans

scenarios

sustainability

transformations

virtual reality

1. Empathy for nature is considered a prerequisite for sustainable interactions with the biosphere. Yet to date, empirical research on how to stimulate empathy remains scarce. 2. Here, we investigate whether future scenarios can promote greater empathy for the oceans. Using a pre-post empathy questionnaire, participants (N = 269) were presented with an optimistic or a pessimistic future scenario for the high seas in a virtual reality (VR) or written format. 3. Results showed that post-test empathy levels were significantly higher than pre-test levels, indicating that future scenarios fostered ocean empathy. We also find that the pessimistic scenario resulted in greater empathy levels compared to the optimistic scenario. Finally, we found no significant difference between the VR and written conditions and found that empathy scores significantly decreased 3 months after the initial intervention. 4. As one of the first studies to empirically demonstrate the influence of a purposeful intervention to build ocean empathy, this article makes critical contributions to advancing research on future scenarios and offers a novel approach for supporting ocean sustainability.

Details

Title: Fostering ocean empathy through future scenarios
Authors: Jessica Blythe (Corresponding Author) - Brock University
Julia Baird (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sustainability Research Cluster
Nathan Bennett (Author) - Peopled Seas Initiative
Gillian Dale (Author) - Brock University
Kirsty L Nash (Author) - University of Tasmania
Gary Pickering (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sustainability Research Cluster
Colette C. C. Wabnitz (Author) - CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Publication details: People and Nature, Vol.3(6), pp.1284-1296
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10253
ISSN: 2575-8314
Copyright note: (c) 2021 The authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99569108702621
Output Type: Journal article