Emotional Dimensions of Watching Zoo Animals: An Experience Sampling Study Building on Insights from Psychology

Abstract

There is little research about how visitors to zoos and aquariums respond emotionally to the animals they experience. The research that does exist has seldom been informed by current psychological literature on affect, which examines the nature and roles of sentiments, moods, emotions, and affective traits. Emotion is multidimensional: it focuses on a person's core goals; directs attention and interest; arouses the body for action; and integrates social group and cultural factors. It is thus a central component of meaning-making. This article provides an overview of the literature on emotion as it applies to human emotional responses to animals.Informed by this literature, this paper presents results from a research study conducted at a zoo. Subjects (279 adults) were each electronically paged once while viewing one of three zoo animals (snake, okapi, or gorilla). Subjects completed scales on 17 specific emotions, seven items measuring evaluation and arousal, and other scales and responses to the animal. Four patterns of emotions emerged, ranging from "equal opportunity" emotions to "highly selective" emotions. The variables that were most important in influencing emotions were not demographic ones, but the kind of animal, subject's emotionality, relation to the animal, and other items predicted by emotion theory. Implications for biophilia, conservation, and the study of emotional responses to animals are discussed.

Semiotic dimensions of human attitudes towards other animals: A case of zoological gardens

“…His inquiry that included eight local species showed that people's readiness to support the protection of different species groups differs considerably across species [protection efforts of the bald eagle were supported by 89%, the eastern mountain lion by 73%, the Agassiz trout by 71%, the American crocodile by 70%, the silverspot butterfly by 64%, the eastern indigo snake by 43% and the Kauai wolf spider by 34% of responders (Kellert 1988: 57)]. Later, similar results regarding differential attitudes toward various animal species have been gathered in various geographical areas and contexts: in ecotourism (Woods 2000), urban environment (Bjerke, Østdahl 2004), zoological gardens (Myers, Saunders 2004), and educational institutions (Schlegel, Rupf 2010). For attitudes towards nonhuman animals, the similarity of the animal species to humans seems to be a decisive factor (Batt 2009), albeit not the only factor.…”

Upper Secondary Students’ Situational Interest: A case study of the role of a zoo visit in a biology class

“…The sources of situational interest (hands-on, social involvement, surprise, novelty, and knowledge acquisition) correlated quite well with those described for other field trip settings (Dohn, 2011) as well as for other learning domains such as reading (Schraw & Lehman, 2001), mathematics (Mitchell, 1993), and science education (Palmer, 2009). The study implies that zoos can provide students with positive emotional experiences that are rich and varied, as suggested by Myers, Saunders and Birjulin (2004). …”

Human preferences for species conservation: Animal charisma trumps endangered status

“…Such programs foster a more intimate and privileged relationship between participants and a particular animal, via its adoptive status, compared to non-participants who visit the zoo. However, emotional responses to animals vary widely between and within taxonomic groups (Myers et al 2004). For instance, primates are more likely to elicit positive emotional responses, because of their close similarities with humans (Plous 1993); conversely, invertebrates are expected to elicit more fearful or aversive emotional responses (Kellert 1993).…”