Animals & Media: How fictional portrayals affect our perceptions

This paper examines how fictional depictions of animals affect real-world human perception and attitudes towards conservation. Through examining several distinct categories of fictional animal portrayal (animals in roles of leading protagonists and antagonists, anthropomorphized animals, human characters who are associated with animals, animal symbolism and motifs, and depictions of nature as a whole unified entity), the specific mechanisms which cause a portrayal to have a greater or weaker impact on real-world perceptions are identified, as well as the motives behind these mechanisms and how they are used to both aid and harm animal conservation outlooks.