Achieving conservation impact by shifting focus from human attitudes to behaviors

Conservation attitudes have been a commonly-used psychological measure of program effectiveness in conservation social science research. The major limitation of this approach is that attitudes do not always translate into behavior, and therefore may not provide an accurate assessment of program success. Given that achieving conservation goals generally relies on understanding and changing behavior, we argue for the need to assess behavior rather than attitudes as an indicator of conservation program outcomes. In addition, we call for conservation programs to be designed to begin with a focus on influencing behavior rather than solely attitudes. We draw on psychological theory to define attitudes and behavior, and show how they are distinct, but related, concepts. We also provide guidance on ways to measure conservation behaviors, and examine the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Our goal in this paper is to encourage conservation practitioners and researchers to collect quality behavioral data to more effectively inform policy and programs. Article impact statement: Encouraging researchers and practitioners to collect behavioral data and promote behavior change improves policy and program outcomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved