Assessing tolerance for wildlife: Clarifying relations between concepts and measures

Human Dimensions of Wildlife: An International Journal
By: , and 

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Abstract

Two parallel lines of inquiry, tolerance for and acceptance of wildlife populations, have arisen in the applied literature on wildlife conservation to assess probability of successfully establishing or increasing populations of controversial species. Neither of these lines is well grounded in social science theory, and diverse measures have been employed to assess tolerance, which inhibits comparability across studies. We empirically tested behavioral measures of tolerance against self-reports of previous policy-relevant behavior and behavioral intentions. Both composite behavioral measures were strongly correlated (r > .70) with two attitudinal measures of tolerance commonly employed in the literature. The strong correlation between attitudinal and behavioral measures suggests existing attitudinal measures represent valid, parsimonious measures of tolerance that may be useful when behavioral measures are too cumbersome or misreporting of behavior is anticipated. Our results demonstrate how behavioral measures of tolerance provide additional, useful information beyond general attitudinal measures.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Assessing tolerance for wildlife: Clarifying relations between concepts and measures
Series title Human Dimensions of Wildlife: An International Journal
DOI 10.1080/10871209.2015.1016387
Volume 20
Issue 3
Year Published 2015
Language English
Publisher Taylor & Francis Online
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Leetown
Description 16 p.
First page 255
Last page 270
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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