دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی همدردی با حیوانات: مروری بر مطالعات موجود - وایلی 2018

Abstract

Empathy is often studied as it relates to humans. However, there is a increasing interest in its relationship, development and impact with non-human animals. This interest is often driven by a curiosity in empathy’s role as an internal motivator for pro-environmental behavior change. As with many internal affective responses, the link is not always directly clear but growing evidence suggests that empathy towards others can influence the likelihood of pro-environmental behaviors as they relate to individual animals and potentially their larger communities or species. A hot zone for empathy development; zoos, aquariums, museums, sanctuaries, shelters, nature centers, and other informal environmental education organizations invested in animal conservation are challenged to understand, mitigate or capitalize on the empathy development already occurring in their institutions. These organizations provide opportunities for people to develop close relationships with individual animals, a critical step in the development of empathy. Their ability to facilitate hundreds of up-close interactions between humans and animals daily establishes these organizations as important venues for the exploration of empathy towards animals and its potential impact on promoting pro-environmental behavior. In this paper, we review some of the existing literature on empathy in relation to and with non-human animals, offer a definition as it applies to all species, and discuss key components of empathy development including barriers and promoters.

CONCLUSION

The relationship between animals, empathy development and the mission for conservation is full of rich conversations and even more questions. We set out to open up the conversation and connect existing research on empathy development towards animals with the work being done in animal conservation facilities likes zoos and aquariums. Through this process it became very clear that we have only begun to understand the depth and potential of empathy for individual animals and eventually for their species. Many questions still linger around the strength of empathy as a motivator for more complex conservation action, the generalization of empathy from individuals to populations or species, and the potential of positive empathy as an alternative to suffering-driven compassion. Empathy in itself is a remarkably complex construct that is built over time and throughout myriad life experiences; for our purposes, we can best understand the role we play in empathy development through the behavioral correlates we observe. What we can say with certainty is that empathy can play an important role in understanding the experiences and needs of animals with potential avenues for affecting conservation behavior. Everyday more and more research is published exploring the links between people, animals, empathy and behavior.