TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding the Role of Pluralistic Ignorance in Biodiversity Conservation
T2 - A Research Agenda
AU - Geiger, Sandra J.
AU - Imada, Hirotaka
AU - Maharja, Carya
AU - Powdthavee, Nattavudh
AU - Vitale, Valeria
AU - Zhang, Lei
AU - Rosa, Claudio D.
AU - Delabrida, Zenith N.C.
AU - Nielsen, Kristian S.
AU - Essl , Franz
AU - White, Mathew P.
N1 - Published online: 06 September 2025.
PY - 2025/12
Y1 - 2025/12
N2 - Most people believe that biodiversity loss is human-caused, yet they may not realize how many others share this belief. Such collective misperceptions—known as pluralistic ignorance—may hinder individual and system changes required to address biodiversity loss. At the same time, reducing pluralistic ignorance may promote positive change. In this Perspective, we provide a brief overview of existing work on pluralistic ignorance about environmental topics and propose an agenda for impactful pluralistic ignorance research in the biodiversity domain. We highlight several research gaps and offer recommendations, including (a) investigating different forms of pluralistic ignorance, (b) improving our understanding of consequences and determinants, and (c) broadening the intervention toolkit to counter pluralistic ignorance for biodiversity conservation. To increase the Perspective’s practical applicability, we describe historical and contemporary case studies on pluralistic ignorance and biodiversity conservation from around the globe.
AB - Most people believe that biodiversity loss is human-caused, yet they may not realize how many others share this belief. Such collective misperceptions—known as pluralistic ignorance—may hinder individual and system changes required to address biodiversity loss. At the same time, reducing pluralistic ignorance may promote positive change. In this Perspective, we provide a brief overview of existing work on pluralistic ignorance about environmental topics and propose an agenda for impactful pluralistic ignorance research in the biodiversity domain. We highlight several research gaps and offer recommendations, including (a) investigating different forms of pluralistic ignorance, (b) improving our understanding of consequences and determinants, and (c) broadening the intervention toolkit to counter pluralistic ignorance for biodiversity conservation. To increase the Perspective’s practical applicability, we describe historical and contemporary case studies on pluralistic ignorance and biodiversity conservation from around the globe.
KW - Behavior change
KW - Biodiversity conservation
KW - Misperceptions
KW - Pluralistic ignorance
KW - Second-order beliefs
KW - Social norm
KW - Behavior change
KW - Biodiversity conservation
KW - Misperceptions
KW - Pluralistic ignorance
KW - Second-order beliefs
KW - Social norm
U2 - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103043
DO - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103043
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0959-3780
VL - 95
JO - Global Environmental Change
JF - Global Environmental Change
M1 - 103043
ER -