Student: Kyle Smith, Ph.D. candidate in Conservation Sciences
Principal Investigators: David Fulton and Adam Landon
Funding: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
In 2021, Kyle Smith and David Fulton worked in close collaboration with Dr. Adam Landon with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) to design and implement social science research to better understand why some hunters lapse or drop out of participation in hunting. This study extended a framework based on self-determination theory (SDT) to study hunting identity salience in lapsed hunters. SDT suggests that multiple forms of motivation can influence levels of self-determination and subsequent behavioral intentions and addresses how social-contextual factors support or thwart individual satisfaction of needs. In the context of hunting, SDT posits that individuals initially interested in the activity will habitually seek out positive hunting experiences and, when supported, will integrate deer hunting as part of their identity. Data were drawn from a survey of lapsed hunters in Minnesota, United States conducted during the winter of 2021. Results suggested that socio-contextual constraints were negatively associated with intrinsic motivation and support amotivation. Subsequently, these differing forms of motivation had a variable influence on identity salience.
According to SDT, when intrinsic motivation is supported, individuals are likely to integrate the activity into their sense of self, leading to positive associations with the identity and associated behaviors. This study provides further evidence that intrinsic motivation of the positive consequences associated with intrinsic motivation, particularly the integration of identities into an individual’s sense of self, positive association with integral social groups, and behavioral consistency. Our study also highlights the critical influence that amotivation has in thwarting identity integration. SDT suggests that individuals that experience high levels of amotivation perceive to have low levels of autonomy or relevance in their participation in the activity. When this occurs, individuals are unlikely to experience the positive psychological outcomes associated with integration and are likely to cease future participation in the experience. As amotivation was found to have a significant, strongly negative association with identity salience, we posit that higher levels of amotivation will likely lead to a disconnect between the individual and the identity associated with the activity. Subsequently, the individual is less likely to remain involved with the activity and feel detached from groups or communities associated with the activity. Concerning deer hunting, individuals who experience high amotivation are less likely to remain involved with deer hunting and associated activities, such as participation with hunting groups or friends involved in hunting and have a general lapse in deer hunting participation.
In the context of hunting participation, our results highlight the importance of early positive experiences among new hunters that may be trying hunting for the first time. If the basic psychological needs of competence, relatedness, and personal autonomy are supported during this trial period, individuals are more likely to internalize deer hunting and become long-term participants. However, if the individual experiences strong constraints to hunting, they are less likely to experience higher forms of motivation associated with internalization, and therefore more likely to lapse or drop out of hunting altogether. These findings have implications for recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) efforts and highlight the need to understand the influence of social-contextual factors and individual motivation in the context of continued hunting participation.
Findings from the study were presented at the Human Dimensions Pathways Conference, Bremerton Washington, May 2022 and are under review at Leisure Sciences. (Smith, Kyle, A.C. Landon, D.C. Fulton. The variable influence of autonomous and controlled motivation on identity salience among Minnesota deer hunters. Leisure Sciences.).