Manesi Zoi, Van Lange Paul A M, Pollet Thomas V
Social and Organizational Psychology, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2015 Nov 6;10(11):e0141433. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141433. eCollection 2015.
Research has shown that the mere presence of stimuli that resemble eyes is sufficient to attract attention, elicit aesthetic responses, and can even enhance prosocial behavior. However, it is less clear whether eye-like stimuli could also be used as a tool for nature conservation. Several animal species, including butterflies, develop eye-like markings that are known as eyespots. In the present research, we explored whether the mere display of eyespots on butterfly wings can enhance: (a) liking for a butterfly species, and (b) attitudes and behaviors towards conservation of a butterfly species. Four online experimental studies, involving 613 participants, demonstrated that eyespots significantly increased liking for a butterfly species. Furthermore, eyespots significantly increased positive attitudes towards conservation of a butterfly species (Studies 1, 2 and 4), whereas liking mediated the eyespot effect on conservation attitudes (Study 2). However, we also found some mixed evidence for an association between eyespots and actual conservation behavior (Studies 3 and 4). Overall, these findings suggest that eyespots may increase liking for an animal and sensitize humans to conservation. We discuss possible implications for biodiversity conservation and future research directions.
研究表明，仅仅是出现类似眼睛的刺激物就足以吸引注意力、引发审美反应，甚至还能增强亲社会行为。然而，类似眼睛的刺激物是否也能用作保护自然的工具，这一点尚不太明确。包括蝴蝶在内的几种动物会形成被称为眼斑的类似眼睛的斑纹。在本研究中，我们探讨了仅仅在蝴蝶翅膀上展示眼斑是否能增强：（a）对某一蝴蝶物种的喜爱，以及（b）对保护某一蝴蝶物种的态度和行为。四项在线实验研究，涉及613名参与者，结果表明眼斑显著增加了对某一蝴蝶物种的喜爱。此外，眼斑显著增加了对保护某一蝴蝶物种的积极态度（研究1、2和4），而喜爱在眼斑对保护态度的影响中起中介作用（研究2）。然而，我们也发现了一些关于眼斑与实际保护行为之间关联的混合证据（研究3和4）。总体而言，这些发现表明眼斑可能会增加对动物的喜爱，并使人类对保护更加敏感。我们讨论了对生物多样性保护的可能影响以及未来的研究方向。
