Science versus Human Welfare? Understanding Attitudes toward Animal Use
Science versus Human Welfare? Understanding Attitudes toward Animal Use
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01609.x
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发表时间：
2009-01-01
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Brandon, Doug
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Knight, Sarah;Vrij, Aldert;Brandon, Doug
科学家被描绘成对动物的使用持漠不关心的态度，倾向于拒绝动物思维的可能性(Baldwin，1993；Blumberg&Wasserman，1995)，但很少有实证研究支持这些说法。我们调查了为什么对动物使用持不同的态度。对科学家、动物福利学家和普通人(N=372)的问卷回答进行了比较，问卷调查衡量了他们对四种动物用途的态度，以及可能支持这些观点的因素(包括对动物心理的信仰)。正如预期的那样，科学家和动物福利学家对所有措施都持两极分化的观点，而门外汉则介于两者之间。动物福利学家一贯反对所有类型的动物使用，而科学家则表示支持将动物用于医学研究，但不支持将动物用于解剖、个人装饰和娱乐。动物福利学家在13种动物中表现出对动物思维的高度信仰，科学家们认为这13种动物中的一些至少具有中等的认知能力，大多数至少具有中等的感知能力。因此，经常被描绘的科学界的负面形象并没有得到我们的数据的支持。研究结果与外部(群体成员)和内部(信仰系统)因素有关，结论是一些人对动物使用持有固定的态度，而另一些人则更多地受到环境的影响。
Scientists have been portrayed as having an uncaring attitude toward the use of animals and being inclined to reject the possibility of animal mind (Baldwin, 1993; Blumberg & Wasserman, 1995), yet there is little empirical research to support these claims. We examined why disparate attitudes toward animal use are held. Scientists, animal welfarists, and laypersons (N = 372) were compared on questionnaire responses that measured attitudes toward four types of animal use, and factors that might underlie these views (including belief in animal mind). As expected, scientists and animal welfarists held polarized views on all measures, whereas laypersons fell between the two. Animal welfarists were consistently opposed to all types of animal use, whereas scientists expressed support for the use of animals for medical research, but not for dissection, personal decoration, and entertainment. Animal welfarists showed high levels of belief in animal mind for 13 animal types, and scientists believed some of the 13 animals to have at least a moderate capacity for cognition and most to have at least a moderate capacity for sentience. Hence, the negative image of the science community that is often portrayed was not supported by our data. Findings were discussed in relation to external (group membership) and internal (belief systems) factors, and it is concluded that some people hold fixed attitudes toward animal use, whereas others are more influenced by context.