Is green eco-friendly? How cognitive biases affect residents’ willingness to participate in natural rubber plantation ecological restoration programs in Hainan, China

Abstract

The misconception that “green is ecological” is widespread, causing the public to overlook severe ecological problems in nature and life. This study aimed to reveal how cognitive biases affect residents’ willingness to participate in ecological restoration and provide a valuable reference for policy design. Based on survey data from 655 urban residents, this study quantified the residents’ cognitive biases regarding the eco-consequences of natural rubber expansion and used a double-hurdle (DH) model to estimate the effect of cognitive biases on their willingness to participate (WP) and their degree of willingness to participate (DWP) in natural rubber plantation ecological restoration (RPER) programs. We further analyzed how ecological consciousness moderates the effects of cognitive biases on residents’ WP and DWP. The results indicate that there are widespread cognitive biases regarding the eco-consequences of rubber expansion among urban residents in Hainan. Cognitive biases cause a decrease in residents’ WP and DWP in the RPER programs. WP was positively influenced by residents’ educational level, and negatively influenced by age. DWP was positively correlated with residents’ household income, and industry cognition and negatively correlated with age, educational level, and residence duration. The moderating effect of the residents’ ecological consciousness significantly weakens the negative effects of cognitive biases on WP and DWP. Moreover, ecological attention exerts a negative moderating effect, whereas ecological identity and ecological practice exert a positive moderating effect. These results have profound implications for policymakers in implementing programs to restore ecosystems.

Keywords

• Cognitive biases
• Willingness to participate
• Ecological consciousness
• Rubber plantation
• Ecological restoration