Research overview: wildlife value orientations and attitudes toward big cats

This overview synthesises social-psychological research on how wildlife value orientations, broad belief systems ranging from domination to mutualism, shape attitudes toward large carnivores and tolerance for conflict. It reviews studies showing that people holding mutualist orientations view predators as deserving coexistence, while domination-oriented individuals favour use and control, and that these orientations shift with urbanisation, education, and economic development. The literature connects value orientations to support for lethal management, compensation, and protection. The survey frames value-orientation research as a powerful predictor of public response to big-cat conservation, helping managers anticipate conflict over policy and tailor communication to diverse constituencies whose disagreements often reflect underlying values more than facts.