Nature provides a myriad of intangible and non-material services to people. However, urbanites ar... more Nature provides a myriad of intangible and non-material services to people. However, urbanites are increasingly disconnected from the natural world. The consequences of this progressive disconnection from nature remain difficult to measure as this process is slow and long-term monitoring or large-scale manipulation on nature experiences are scarce. Measures to contain the spread of the recent COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., lockdowns) have potentially reduced or even suppressed nature experiences in cities. This situation provided an opportunity for conducting a longitudinal study that can serve as a sort of natural experiment to quantify the effects of nature deprivation on individuals' health, well-being and relationship to nature. We collected data on these variables from the same individuals inhabiting a large metropolis (Tel Aviv, Israel) twice, in 2018 (before) and during the lockdown in 2020. Our results confirmed that frequency, duration and quality of nature interactions dropped during the lockdown, while environmental attitudes and affinity towards nature remained similar. This was particularly true for people living in the least green neighborhoods, where a significant decrease in personal and social well-being was also found. Finally, affinity towards nature influenced well-being through nature experiences in 2018. The mediation effect was not significant in 2020, probably due to the decrease in nature experiences during the lockdown, but the direct relationship between affinity towards nature and well-being remained strong. These results provide insights into the means required to align the public health and conservation agendas to safeguard urbanites' health and well-being during a pandemic and mitigate the biodiversity crisis.
Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research, 2016
The world faces significant challenges pertaining to the depletion and degradation of environment... more The world faces significant challenges pertaining to the depletion and degradation of environmental resources. A public that is increasingly aware of resource scarcity, understands ecosystem interdependence, and frames the current situation in comparison to previous conditions, has become sensitized to the implications for personal and social justice. This chapter reviews research at the interface of justice and environmental issues. We discuss ways in which the natural environment presents a distinctive domain for justice research, and in particular the need to consider intergenerational justice and reasons for individual differences in justice perceptions. Because perceptions of justice and fairness are important determinants of policy acceptance, we consider some predictors of beliefs about environmental justice and discuss the role of justice in motivating behavior. We close by identifying promising areas for future research.
Proceedings of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology, 2018
Support for the conservation of large carnivores and for biodiversity is more likely when people ... more Support for the conservation of large carnivores and for biodiversity is more likely when people have not merely understanding, but also an emotional appreciation for diverse species. These are likely to be enhanced by direct experiences, such as the visits to zoos and aquariums that provide many people an increasingly important opportunity for contact with other species. The direct experiences of nonhuman animals provided by zoos have two psychologically important characteristics: they are vivid and emotionally rich, and they are typically shared with others. Vivid, emotional experiences not only attract more attention, they are also better remembered, contributing to understanding. Social interactions surrounding zoo animals are opportunities to create and communicate shared emotional experiences and values. This presentation reviews several studies describing the experience of a zoo visit, to show the complexity of such a visit, beyond the presumed connection among captive wild animals, visitors, and wildlife conservation issues. Indeed, a single visit does not always increase visitors’ concern for wildlife conservation (1), and participating in a zoo-based animal adoption program is motivated more by animal charisma than by concern about endangered species (2). Although people are attracted to the zoo to see wild animals, the zoo visit appears much richer than a single contact with captive animals. We showed for instance that visitors express the feeling of “being away” when visiting the zoo, and that they become more receptive to other components of biodiversity (e.g. common urban birds) in addition to the presented wildlife (3). More, visitors declared having felt more positive than negative emotions when exiting the zoo, and visitors who felt more positively said they had learned more (1). Zoos are important places for conservation, but their impact may be primarily indirect: more than transferring direct messages for wildlife conservation, zoos are places where complex and shared experiences of nature can be promoted, in order to increase the sense of being connected to the natural world. Because zoos attract a large diversity of people, we encourage them to demonstrate respect, and encourage empathy and connection toward the nature presented at their sites. 1. Clayton S., Prévot A.C., Germain L., Saint-Jalme M. 2017. Public support for biodiversity after a zoo visit: Environmental concern, conservation knowledge, and self-efficacy. Curator, The Museum Journal 60: 87-100. 2. Colléony A., Clayton S. Couvet D., Saint Jalme M., Prévot A.C. 2016. Human preferences for species conservation: Animal charisma trumps endangered status Biological conservation http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2 3. Colléony A., Martin L., Misdariis N., Clayton S., Saint-Jalme M., Prévot A.C. 2017. Exoticism as a Mediator of Everyday Experiences of Nature: an Anthropological Exploration of Soundscape in Zoos. Human Ecology. DOI 10.1007/s10745-017-9937peerReviewe
Recently published research (Hickman et al., 2021) described concern and anxiety about climate ch... more Recently published research (Hickman et al., 2021) described concern and anxiety about climate change among young people aged 16-25 in ten countries around the world. Using the same dataset, this paper examines differences associated with gender and age. There were small but consistent gender differences, with female respondents expressing greater levels of concern and negative emotions, while male respondents were more optimistic and expressed greater faith in government. Within this narrow age group, there was some evidence that concern and negative emotions about climate change were higher among older respondents compared to those who were younger. There were complex differences among countries; in general, respondents in the Philippines, India, and Nigeria report a stronger psychological impact of climate change than respondents in the United States and Finland. These results help to describe the extent and patterns of climate anxiety worldwide in an age range that is relatively...
Research indicates that beautiful nature can have positive impacts. Does polluted nature have a c... more Research indicates that beautiful nature can have positive impacts. Does polluted nature have a corresponding negative impact? This paper presents two experiments investigating the impact of viewing images of natural settings, on a college campus, that do or do not contain litter. The moderating role of environmental identity was also examined. Study 1 showed that landscapes with litter evoked more negative emotions among a sample of 332 U.S. residents on MTurk than did landscapes without litter. Surprisingly, natural landscapes did not have a more positive effect than images of buildings. In Study 2, using an MTurk sample of 310 U.S. residents, results were similar to Study 1 but were qualified by an interaction between condition and EID: those high in EID were more strongly affected by the images. These results suggest that viewing polluted landscapes can have a negative effect on emotions (hedonic wellbeing), and that these effects are stronger among those who have a stronger rel...
Nature provides a myriad of intangible and non-material services to people. However, urbanites ar... more Nature provides a myriad of intangible and non-material services to people. However, urbanites are increasingly disconnected from the natural world. The consequences of this progressive disconnection from nature remain difficult to measure as this process is slow and long-term monitoring or large-scale manipulation on nature experiences are scarce. Measures to contain the spread of the recent COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., lockdowns) have potentially reduced or even suppressed nature experiences in cities. This situation provided an opportunity for conducting a longitudinal study that can serve as a sort of natural experiment to quantify the effects of nature deprivation on individuals' health, well-being and relationship to nature. We collected data on these variables from the same individuals inhabiting a large metropolis (Tel Aviv, Israel) twice, in 2018 (before) and during the lockdown in 2020. Our results confirmed that frequency, duration and quality of nature interactions dropped during the lockdown, while environmental attitudes and affinity towards nature remained similar. This was particularly true for people living in the least green neighborhoods, where a significant decrease in personal and social well-being was also found. Finally, affinity towards nature influenced well-being through nature experiences in 2018. The mediation effect was not significant in 2020, probably due to the decrease in nature experiences during the lockdown, but the direct relationship between affinity towards nature and well-being remained strong. These results provide insights into the means required to align the public health and conservation agendas to safeguard urbanites' health and well-being during a pandemic and mitigate the biodiversity crisis.
Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research, 2016
The world faces significant challenges pertaining to the depletion and degradation of environment... more The world faces significant challenges pertaining to the depletion and degradation of environmental resources. A public that is increasingly aware of resource scarcity, understands ecosystem interdependence, and frames the current situation in comparison to previous conditions, has become sensitized to the implications for personal and social justice. This chapter reviews research at the interface of justice and environmental issues. We discuss ways in which the natural environment presents a distinctive domain for justice research, and in particular the need to consider intergenerational justice and reasons for individual differences in justice perceptions. Because perceptions of justice and fairness are important determinants of policy acceptance, we consider some predictors of beliefs about environmental justice and discuss the role of justice in motivating behavior. We close by identifying promising areas for future research.
Proceedings of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology, 2018
Support for the conservation of large carnivores and for biodiversity is more likely when people ... more Support for the conservation of large carnivores and for biodiversity is more likely when people have not merely understanding, but also an emotional appreciation for diverse species. These are likely to be enhanced by direct experiences, such as the visits to zoos and aquariums that provide many people an increasingly important opportunity for contact with other species. The direct experiences of nonhuman animals provided by zoos have two psychologically important characteristics: they are vivid and emotionally rich, and they are typically shared with others. Vivid, emotional experiences not only attract more attention, they are also better remembered, contributing to understanding. Social interactions surrounding zoo animals are opportunities to create and communicate shared emotional experiences and values. This presentation reviews several studies describing the experience of a zoo visit, to show the complexity of such a visit, beyond the presumed connection among captive wild animals, visitors, and wildlife conservation issues. Indeed, a single visit does not always increase visitors’ concern for wildlife conservation (1), and participating in a zoo-based animal adoption program is motivated more by animal charisma than by concern about endangered species (2). Although people are attracted to the zoo to see wild animals, the zoo visit appears much richer than a single contact with captive animals. We showed for instance that visitors express the feeling of “being away” when visiting the zoo, and that they become more receptive to other components of biodiversity (e.g. common urban birds) in addition to the presented wildlife (3). More, visitors declared having felt more positive than negative emotions when exiting the zoo, and visitors who felt more positively said they had learned more (1). Zoos are important places for conservation, but their impact may be primarily indirect: more than transferring direct messages for wildlife conservation, zoos are places where complex and shared experiences of nature can be promoted, in order to increase the sense of being connected to the natural world. Because zoos attract a large diversity of people, we encourage them to demonstrate respect, and encourage empathy and connection toward the nature presented at their sites. 1. Clayton S., Prévot A.C., Germain L., Saint-Jalme M. 2017. Public support for biodiversity after a zoo visit: Environmental concern, conservation knowledge, and self-efficacy. Curator, The Museum Journal 60: 87-100. 2. Colléony A., Clayton S. Couvet D., Saint Jalme M., Prévot A.C. 2016. Human preferences for species conservation: Animal charisma trumps endangered status Biological conservation http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2 3. Colléony A., Martin L., Misdariis N., Clayton S., Saint-Jalme M., Prévot A.C. 2017. Exoticism as a Mediator of Everyday Experiences of Nature: an Anthropological Exploration of Soundscape in Zoos. Human Ecology. DOI 10.1007/s10745-017-9937peerReviewe
Recently published research (Hickman et al., 2021) described concern and anxiety about climate ch... more Recently published research (Hickman et al., 2021) described concern and anxiety about climate change among young people aged 16-25 in ten countries around the world. Using the same dataset, this paper examines differences associated with gender and age. There were small but consistent gender differences, with female respondents expressing greater levels of concern and negative emotions, while male respondents were more optimistic and expressed greater faith in government. Within this narrow age group, there was some evidence that concern and negative emotions about climate change were higher among older respondents compared to those who were younger. There were complex differences among countries; in general, respondents in the Philippines, India, and Nigeria report a stronger psychological impact of climate change than respondents in the United States and Finland. These results help to describe the extent and patterns of climate anxiety worldwide in an age range that is relatively...
Research indicates that beautiful nature can have positive impacts. Does polluted nature have a c... more Research indicates that beautiful nature can have positive impacts. Does polluted nature have a corresponding negative impact? This paper presents two experiments investigating the impact of viewing images of natural settings, on a college campus, that do or do not contain litter. The moderating role of environmental identity was also examined. Study 1 showed that landscapes with litter evoked more negative emotions among a sample of 332 U.S. residents on MTurk than did landscapes without litter. Surprisingly, natural landscapes did not have a more positive effect than images of buildings. In Study 2, using an MTurk sample of 310 U.S. residents, results were similar to Study 1 but were qualified by an interaction between condition and EID: those high in EID were more strongly affected by the images. These results suggest that viewing polluted landscapes can have a negative effect on emotions (hedonic wellbeing), and that these effects are stronger among those who have a stronger rel...
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Books by Susan Clayton
Papers by Susan Clayton