Human Evaluative Responses toward Animals (HERA): A model for conceptualizing and measuring attitudes toward different animal categories

Background : The Human Evaluative Responses toward Animals (HERA) model proposes a theoretically grounded framework for conceptualizing and measuring human attitudes toward animals from an intergroup perspective. Building on models such as the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and the Behaviors from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes map (BIAS map), HERA adapts and extends these foundations to address the unique characteristics of animals as attitudinal objects. Rather than evaluating specific animals, the model targets four animal categories widely supported in the literature: pets or companion animals, pests or vermin, livestock or farm animals, and wild animals. The model comprises three interconnected domains. The stereotypes domain includes four dimensions: Consciousness, Sociability, Negative Intention, and Intrinsic Value. The emotions domain captures Positive and Negative emotional responses, and the behavioral intentions domain encompasses Facilitation and Harm. Methods : The HERA Scale (HERAS), a 32-item instrument, was developed and tested across three sequential studies conducted in Spain and Scotland. A Pilot Study ( n = 497) used exploratory factor analyses to examine and refine the model’s initial structure. Study 1 ( n = 272, Spain) applied confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the internal structure and reliability and explored convergent validity by correlating the HERAS scores with the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) and the 4N Carnism Scale scores. Study 2 combined participants from Spain and Scotland ( n = 538) to test factorial invariance across animal categories and cultural contexts. Results : Confirmatory factor analyses supported the proposed three-domain structure, with fit indices meeting established criteria across all domains. Reliability coefficients were satisfactory throughout. Correlations with the AAS and the 4N Scale were in the expected directions (except for a non-significant association between carnism and Intrinsic Value), providing evidence of convergent validity. Factorial invariance analyses yielded metric invariance across animal categories and scalar invariance across cultural contexts for the stereotypes domain, and metric invariance across cultural contexts for emotions and behavioral intentions, with only configural invariance across animal categories for behavioral intentions. Conclusions : HERAS demonstrates sound psychometric properties and cross-cultural applicability, positioning it as a theoretically innovative and empirically robust tool for the study of human–animal relations. Its dimensional structure and category-based approach allow for nuanced profiling of evaluative responses across diverse animal groups, with potential applications in animal welfare research, policy, and educational interventions.