Perceptions of Human Intervention in Natural Processes: Addressing the Complexities
Date
2013
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
The relationship between humans and the natural world encompasses a plethora of complex perceptions. A lack of human intervention increases perceptions of naturalness, yet human intervention is practically inescapable. We therefore were interested in what kinds of, which motivations for, and to what degree of intervention influenced perceived naturalness. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted to investigate lay perceptions of negative natural entities and of various interventions in human processes. Participants in both studies filled out an online survey, the first asking them to describe their level of agreement with two described scenarios of human intervention and the second asking them to rate a variety of items in terms of naturalness, goodness, and how much fundamental change occurred, to indicate their level of agreement with a selection of statements and their level of support for a variety of human interventions, to respond to a collection of triads (in which three terms are presented and the participant judges which does not belong with the other two), and to answer several open ended questions. Results support three main findings. 1. Counter to hypothesis, negative natural entities were not rated as less natural than corresponding more positive entities; 2. Direct genetic intervention is the most potent in destroying the naturalness of an entity and 3. The potency of genetic intervention is reduced if the genetic change brings the target of the intervention closer to its original form. Areas for continued development in the research on human interventions are discussed.