Narratives about the protection of endangered animal species and their influence on the protection motivation and attitudes of Children in Ecuador (narratives on the protection of endangered animal species and their influence on the motivation of protection and attitudes of children in Ecuador)

This study seeks to evaluate the impact of the narrative (short stories), in the attitudes of schoolchildren and in the motivation of protection towards in danger of extinction in Ecuador. A classic research design will be followed with a previous evaluation and after the intervention. A quantitative questionnaire will be applied to approximately 500 students from 4th-5th grade of basic education (8 to 10 years) in 8 public schools in Cuenca. Previously a preliminary study will be carried out to know the familiarity of the target group with the animals threatened in the Andes. The prior test to the intervention consists in the application of a questionnaire to the students to evaluate their attitudes, motivation of protection and psychological distances towards the endangered species, as well as their familiarity with the author and the selected story. Then, students will be divided into four different groups to assign them a specific text (A, B, C, D). The chosen texts differ in the intensity of their emotion and empathy. After reading the subsequent test will be applied: evaluate the familiarity of the students with the text, their impressions, attitudes and the motivation to protect the endangered animal species. The texts that will be used are: A. Story "One more day and other stories. Tales on animals in danger of extinction" (2004) by Edna Iturralde. B. A different version of the text that will increase the degree of narrative transport and the development of narrative empathy by the reader. C. A descriptive text about threatened species. D. A neutral fictional text without any reference to endangered species. The objective is to evaluate the degree to which the reader receives signals to commit emotionally and emphatically with a virtual environment and with non -human species. For this, standardized research scales of literary reception and environmental psychology will be used.

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