On the Multiple Identities of Stakeholders in Wolf Management in Minnesota, United States

Social identity theory offers a means to understand attitudes about wolves, with consequences for management support. Using data from mail survey we explored relationships among seven identities (i.e., wolf advocate, hunter, environmentalist, nature enthusiast, farmer, trapper, conservationist) using multidimensional scaling (MDS) and principal components analysis (PCA). We examined how correlated political ideology, trust in wildlife agency, value orientations (WVOs) evaluated whether WVOs mediated the relationship between attitudes. PCA suggested two factors identifying stakeholders, while MDS correlations found diversity stakeholders beyond these factors. Hunter was most strongly associated domination WVO conservative ideology. Farmer agency distrust negative Wolf advocate mutualism beliefs that humans are meant coexist harmonious wildlife), trust, positive Conservationist positively all other identities. partially