Attitudes toward Engagement in Citizen Science Increase Self-Related, Ecology-Related, and Motivation-Related Outcomes in an Urban Wildlife Project

authored by: Hannah Greving, Till Bruckermann, Anke Schumann, Milena Stillfried, Konstantin Börner, Robert Hagen, Sophia Kimmig, Miriam Brandt, Joachim Kimmerle
Abstract: Citizen science projects are crucial for engaging citizens in conservation efforts. Although attitudes toward engagement in citizen science were mostly considered an outcome of citizen science participation, citizens may also have a certain attitude toward engagement in citizen science when starting with a citizen science project. Moreover, there is a lack of citizen science studies that consider changes over longer periods of time. Therefore, in this research, we present two-wave data from four field studies of a citizen science project about urban wildlife ecology using cross-lagged panel analyses. We investigated the influence of attitudes toward engagement in citizen science on self-related, ecology-related, and motivation-related outcomes. We found that positive attitudes toward engagement in citizen science at the beginning of the project had positive influences on the participants’ psychological ownership and pride in their participation, their attitudes toward and enthusiasm about wildlife, and their internal and external motivation 2 months later. We discuss the implications for citizen science research and practice.
Organisation(s): Institute of Education
External Organisation(s): IPN - Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at Kiel University
University of Tübingen
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM)
Type: Article
Journal: BioScience
Volume: 73
Pages: 206–219
No. of pages: 14
ISSN: 0006-3568
Publication date: 03.2023
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biad003 (Access: Open)