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Conservation psychology
Conservation psychology studies the reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with a focus on encouraging conservation. It was proposed as a field in 2003 and overlaps with environmental psychology.
- Type of entry
- Interdisciplinary fieldAn area that draws on psychology together with other disciplines. Types are editorial labels, not an official classification.
- Cluster
- Law, environment, and public lifeCourts, policing, environments, peace and critical or Indigenous approaches.
- Sources opened
- 2 of 21 read as a full page, 1 as selected text or an abstract, 0 not verified.
- Independent review
- Admitted after correctionsClaude Code reviewer agent, separate from the writer, 2026-10-21. 8 claims checked against 2 sources opened by the reviewer.
What it studies
Conservation psychology studies the reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with a focus on encouraging conservation of the natural world. Saunders defined it as an applied field that uses psychological principles, theories or methods to address human aspects of conservation. It overlaps with environmental psychology and conservation biology.
History and people
Carol D. Saunders proposed conservation psychology as a new field in a 2003 article in Human Ecology Review, and a 2022 editorial credits her with coining the term. The article presented the field as a network of researchers and practitioners. In 2020 the Association of Zoos and Aquariums invited experts, including the editorial's authors, to help develop a Social Science Research Agenda. These events describe naming and early organizing, not a single origin.
People and documented roles
- Carol D. Saunders. Author of the 2003 article proposing conservation psychology; credited with coining the term
Only Saunders is documented in the sources opened. Other contributors to the field's development were not documented and are not listed.
Dated milestones
Methods
Saunders describes research that ranges from theoretical to applied, at the individual or group level, organized around two outcome areas: motivating people to act in environmentally friendly ways, and encouraging people to care about the natural world and their role in it. The 2022 editorial describes research under the framework as theoretical, applied and evaluative. Specific designs are not detailed in the sources opened.
Training and applications
The 2022 editorial points to work in zoos, aquariums, nonprofits and government settings, including evaluating educational programs and measuring empathic feelings toward animals. It notes that conservation is often described as a people problem rather than an animal problem. The sources opened do not describe a licensed profession or protected title.
Boundaries and limits
Saunders states that conservation psychology emphasizes relationships with the natural world, while environmental psychology focuses on both built and natural environments, and that the new field was envisioned as a superfield rather than a subdiscipline. Her article describes the naming as the work of 'a number of us', so the 2022 editorial credits the term to her rather than her claiming it alone. This profile rests on a proposal article and a short editorial; no independent history was found. The editorial calls for more diverse research contexts and communities.
Evidence behind the claims
Saunders defines conservation psychology as the scientific study of the reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with a particular focus on how to encourage conservation of the natural world.
Saunders describes conservation psychology as an applied field with a strong mission focus, and also as the network of researchers and practitioners who work together toward a sustainable relationship between people and the natural environment.
Saunders states that conservation psychology emphasizes relationships with the natural world whereas environmental psychology focuses on both built and natural environments, and that conservation psychology is envisioned as a superfield rather than a subdiscipline.
In a 2003 article in Human Ecology Review, Saunders proposed a new field of conservation psychology to create stronger connections between the natural and social sciences, between research and practice, and between psychology and other social sciences.
Cranston and Khalil, in a 2022 editorial, credit Saunders with coining the term Conservation Psychology in a 2003 special issue of Human Ecology.
Saunders organizes potential research around two outcome areas, motivating people to act in environmentally friendly ways and encouraging people to care about the natural world and their role in it, at individual or group levels and ranging from theoretical to applied.
In 2020 the Association of Zoos and Aquariums invited the editorial's authors, with other conservation psychology experts, to help develop a Social Science Research Agenda.
The editorial points to conservation psychology work in zoos, aquariums, nonprofits and government settings, including evaluating educational programs and measuring empathic feelings toward animals, notes that conservation is often viewed as a people problem rather than an animal problem, and calls for more diverse research contexts and communities.
Where it appears
Professional contexts
Examples show documented structures. They are not a ranking, a census, or a statement about admission or licensing.
In the Psy101 course
- OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 1.3: Contemporary PsychologyChapter 1, Introduction to Psychology. Topic reading. Nearest related reading; direct coverage of this field has not been verified.Nearest textbook reading on contemporary areas of psychology; the page was not opened.
- OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 12.3: Attitudes and PersuasionChapter 12, Social Psychology. Topic reading. Nearest related reading; direct coverage of this field has not been verified.Nearest textbook reading on attitudes and persuasion, which relate to environmentally responsible behavior; the page was not opened.
This is course relevance only. It is not evidence for the historical or practice claims on this page.See the full course map.
Sources and inspection
2 of 2 sources were opened and read at the level shown. A source marked as not verified supports no claim on this page by itself.
- [1]The Emerging Field of Conservation PsychologyHuman Ecology Review, vol. 10, no. 2 (author: Carol D. Saunders), 2003. Original publication. Supports the definition of the area.Selected text readRead pages 137 to 140 as page images (abstract, definition, comparison with environmental psychology, start of outcome areas); the remaining pages were not read.
- [2]Conservation psychology: The future of conservation built upon a legacyZoo Biology (authors: Kayla A. Cranston and Kathayoon Khalil), 2022. Review article. Supports the history.Full page readRead the full text of this short special-issue editorial (Zoo Biology 41(5):377-378); the reference list was not checked.
Independent source review: Claude Code reviewer agent, separate from the writer, 2026-10-21. Verdict: Admitted after corrections. Of 8 claims checked, 7 were supported as written, 1 were reworded and 0 were removed.