A belief in human dominance over nature lies at the heart of current environmental problems. In this article, we extend the theoretical scope of social dominance theory by arguing that social dominance orientation (SDO) is an important variable in understanding person-environment relations. We argue that individuals high in SDO are more willing to exploit the environment in unsustainable ways because SDO promotes human hierarchical dominance over nature. Four studies provide support for this perspective. High SDO was associated with lower levels of environmental concern in a nationally representative New Zealand sample (Study 1) and in country-level data across 27 nations (Study 2). SDO was also positively related to utilization attitudes toward nature (Study 3) and mediated the gender difference in beliefs about anthropogenic climate change (Study 4), and both occurred independently of right-wing authoritarianism. Implications for the humandominated view of nature subscribed to by those high in SDO are discussed.

Abstract:A large body of research supports the idea of social norms communication promoting pro-social and pro-environmental behaviour. This paper investigates social norms communication in the field. Signs prompting consumers about sustainable seafood labels and informing them about other consumers' sustainable choices were displayed in supermarkets in Norway and Germany. Seafood sales (sustainably labelled versus unlabelled products) were observed before, during, and after the implementation of the signs. The expected change towards more sustainable choices was generally not found. In Norway, the choice of sustainable seafood increased in the prompt-only condition, but the effect was neutralised when social norms information was added. In Germany, social norm messages lead to a decline in sustainable choices compared to baseline, a boomerang effect. Overall, an increase in the purchase of seafood (both sustainably labelled and unlabelled) was noted during the intervention. A second study was carried out to further explore the finding that consumers were mainly primed with "seafood" as a food group. In a laboratory setting, participants were confronted with stereotypical food pictures, combined with short sentences encouraging different consumption patterns. Subsequently, they were asked to choose food products in a virtual shop. Confirming the findings of Study 1, participants chose more of the groceries belonging to the food group they were primed with. These studies suggest that social norms interventions-recently often perceived as "the Holy Grail" for behaviour change-are not as universally applicable as suggested in the literature. According to this study, even descriptive norm messages can produce boomerang effects.

This paper discusses conceptual confusions of sustainable seafood consumption, practical challenges, and potential anchors from where this behaviour can be fostered. The main focus lies on psychological variables. The resulting framework comprises (1) a definition of sustainable seafood consumption, (2) suggestions for corresponding behaviours, (3) the identification of facilitating and hindering factors, (4) an assemblage of these factors into a theoretical model, and (5) a short discussion of how the model adds up value to the current state of the art in marine resource conservation. Behavioural models significantly contribute to behavioural change research. The originality and value of this research are that it tackles the so far relatively neglected field of sustainable seafood consumption as important part of sustainable development and marine conservation in the future. From an interventional perspective, the developed model facilitates the identification of contact points to approach consumers and disseminate sustainable seafood consumption among modern Western consumers.

No abstract

Nutritional factors such as casein hydrolysates and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids have been proposed to exert beneficial metabolic effects. We aimed to investigate how a casein hydrolysate (eCH) and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids could affect human primary adipocyte function in vitro. Incubation conditions with the different nutritional factors were validated by assessing cell vitality with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and neutral red incorporation. Intracellular triglyceride content was assessed with Oil Red O staining. The effect of eCH, a non-peptidic amino acid mixture (AA), and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) on adiponectin and leptin secretion was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Intracellular adiponectin expression and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation were analyzed by Western blot, while monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) release was explored by ELISA. The eCH concentration dependently increased adiponectin secretion in human primary adipocytes through its intrinsic peptide bioactivity, since the non-peptidic mixture, AA, could not mimic eCH’s effects on adiponectin secretion. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and DHA combined with arachidonic acid (ARA) upregulated adiponectin secretion. However, only DHA and DHA/ARA exerted a potentanti-inflammatory effect reflected by prevention of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) induced NF-κB activation and MCP-1 secretion in human adipocytes. eCH and DHA alone or in combination with ARA, may hold the key for nutritional programming through their anti-inflammatory action to prevent diseases with low-grade chronic inflammation such as obesity or diabetes.