Diverse Motivations in Citizen Science

The “Monitoring Sites 1000 Satoyama project, one of the largest long-term monitoring projects in Japan, has been conducted by more than 2500 citizen surveyors. It is important to understand and manage the motivations of citizen surveyors for continuing the projects. The results of the sociopsychological survey showed a clear difference in motivations for conservation activities between the citizen surveyors and the general public. The sense of obligation (social norms) was the strongest motivation for the general public, and on the other hand, their sense of self-efficacy and attachment to their monitoring site was the strongest motivation for the citizen surveyors. Moreover, the surveyors with at least 5 years of experience had a more diverse types and stronger motivations than the beginner investigators. To sustain the monitoring project over long periods, it is important to devise ways to promote the diverse motivations of citizen surveyors.