From Emotion to Action: Compassion as a Driver for Marine Conservation

Urbanisation and reduced direct contact with nature have weakened children’s opportunities to interact with wildlife, making it harder for them to feel concerned about biodiversity loss (Truong & Clayton, 2020). Existing research has predominantly focused on familiar, terrestrial vertebrates, contributing to a persistent taxonomic bias that favours charismatic species when addressing conservation issues (Bègue-Shankland, 2022). Given the central ecological importance of marine ecosystems, fostering awareness and understanding of ocean biodiversity among younger generations is essential.

While few studies have examined empathy as a precursor to pro-environmental behaviour, compassion has not received any empirical attention despite its potential as a driving force for conservation. Empathy refers to the ability to understand and share another’s emotional state (Decety & Holvoet, 2021), while compassion (motivational empathy) adds an action-oriented component aimed at alleviating others’ suffering. Understanding these emotional mechanisms is therefore crucial for environmental education: is developing empathy sufficient, or must compassion be cultivated to encourage meaningful conservation behaviour?

Children remain notably understudied despite their potential to become powerful agents of environmental change (Gottesdiener & Davallon, 1999). Building on Miralles et al. (2019), who suggested that individuals preferentially choose phylogenetically closer species, we developed a serious game in partnership with Océanopolis. The study replicated their paradigm using only marine species from ten different clades across two conditions. In the empathy condition, participants selected the species they felt closest to; in the compassion condition, they chose which species they would save. Contrary to Miralles et al. (2019), no significant differences emerged for empathy. However, significant effects appeared in the compassion condition (p < .05), with children more likely to save phylogenetically closer species. This work contributes to the broader question of compassionate conservation, whereby emotional connections with animals increase the likelihood of humans acting to protect them.