A newly published article by Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow Pauline Smith and Georgetown professors Dr. Janet Mann and Dr. Abigail Marsh dives into the intersection between human psychology and environmental conservation. Specifically, Smith et al. inspect whether the tendency for humans to exhibit greater empathy towards recognizable individuals is applicable to individual dolphins, and if this recognition causes an increased desire to take conservation action. Using photographs of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins collected by the PCDP, study participants were tested on their ability to recognize individuals and specific empathetic reactions towards them. The results showed that a greater ability to recognize an individual dolphin is correlated with higher empathy, as well as an increased enthusiasm to participate in real-world environmental actions. Additionally, pairing a photo of an injured dolphin with a narrative describing the injury led to an increased willingness to donate to a conservation organization. This is the first study that has examined the relationship between human recognition of individual wild animals and whether this can increase sustainable behaviors. The ability of non-expert individuals to recognize and feel empathy towards animals is important in the field of conservation because, as demonstrated in this article, it can lead to more altruistic behavior and therefore improved environmental action.
