Cultural Wildlife Misunderstandings in Both Abstract and Concrete Form

Reviews the book, Culture and Resource Conflict: Why Meanings Matter by Douglas L. Medin, Norbert O. Ross, and Douglas G. Cox (see record 2006-12929-000). This book focuses on how cultural differences play a key role in understanding nature and its relation to intergroup conflict. The authors' studies illustrate the importance of including worldview and conceptual knowledge. Failure to understand differences in mental models of nature is an integral part of perpetuating intergroup misperception and conflict. In their analyses, the authors demonstrate the agreement between both the Native American fisherman and the majority of outdoorsmen in terms of shared intercultural values and goals, in spite of reported intracultural perceptions that allowed each group to believe that the other group endorsed a drastically different position. Again, these results indicate a greater sense of congruence between both groups, thus calling into question the validity of arguments asserting that, given the right to spearfish, Native American fishermen would eventually deplete these natural resources. Although expressed in different ways, both groups do value the preservation of wildlife for future generations, and this text is able to convincingly put forward and support this assertion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)