Nature Relatedness Research Articles

Managing the allergy and asthma epidemic in 2020s-Lessons from the Finnish experience.

In Finland, a systematic public health programme was implemented from 2008 to 2018 to mitigate the burden of allergic disorders by revisiting the prevention strategy. Allergy health and contacts with natural environment were emphasized to promote immunological and psychological resilience instead of poorly justified avoidance. Allergy management practices were improved and low‐valued recommendations for care, for example for food allergy, were revised. Patients and families were empowered to use guided self‐management to proactively stop symptom exacerbations. A professional non‐governmental organization implemented the nationwide education for healthcare and patient NGOs for patients, families and lay public. In healthcare, the work supporting allergic patients and families was organized towards common goals and integrated into everyday work without extra costs. Reaching the predefined goals was followed by employing the national healthcare registers and questionnaire surveys. Governmental bodies contributed with kick‐off funding, which was supplemented by private funding. International collaboration, for example with the European patient organization (EFA), increased awareness of the Finnish action and predisposed it for peer review. The 10‐year results are favourable, patients are less disabled, practices and attitudes in healthcare have changed, and major cost savings have been obtained. Views of the lay public and patients are slow to move, however. Local multidisciplinary allergy teams were set up to continue the activities also after the Programme. Changes in environment and lifestyle in the last 50 years are the main reasons for the allergy rise. The Finnish experience may help to manage allergic diseases, improve nature relatedness in the fast‐urbanizing world, combat nature loss and reduce the disease burden.

Undergraduates' perceptions on emergency remote learning in ecology in the post-pandemic era.

The COVID‐19 pandemic has strongly disrupted academic activities, particularly in disciplines with a strong empirical component among other reasons by limiting our mobility. It is thus essential to assess emergency remote teaching plans by surveying learners’ opinions and perceptions during these unusual circumstances. To achieve this aim, we conducted a survey during the spring semester of 2021 in an environmental science program to ascertain learners’ perceptions on online and onsite learning activities in ecology‐based modules. We were particularly interested not only in comparing the performance of these two types of activities but also in understanding the role played by learners’ perceptions about nature in shaping this pattern. Environmental science programs are rather heterogeneous from a conceptual point of view and, thus, learners may also be more diverse than in traditional ecology programs, which may affect their interest for ecology‐based modules. We assessed connectedness to nature by computing the reduced version of the Nature Relatedness Scale. Here, we found that online activities systematically obtained significantly lower scores than onsite activities regardless of the wording employed, and that altruistic behaviors were prevalent among learners. Interestingly, scores for both onsite and online activities were strongly influenced by learners’ connectedness to nature, as learners with a stronger connection to nature gave higher scores to both types of activities. Our results suggest that an effort to improve the efficacy of remote learning activities should be the focus of research about teaching methodologies in predominantly empirical scientific disciplines.

Manusia dan lingkungan alam: Analisis faktor konfirmatori terhadap Nature Relatedness Scale Bahasa Indonesia

The relationship or closeness between humans and the natural environment is a psychological construct that can be used to overcome environmental problems nowadays. Nature Relatedness Scale (NRS) is a questionnaire used to measure the relationship between humans and the natural environment, which is proven to be related to pro-environment behavior. However, there are no studies that have adapted and analyzed the structure of NRS in Indonesia, so that it can be used for studies on environmental psychology in Indonesia. This study aims to test the construct validity and reliability of NRS Bahasa Indonesia using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with a sample of Indonesian people (N= 174). The result shows that NRS Bahasa Indonesia has the same factor structure as the original NRS, namely: NR Self, NR Perspective, and NR Experience and can be used in research with a population of Indonesian people. NR Self and NR Experience have good construct reliability and validity, while NR Perspective has moderate construct reliability and validity. The potential of the NRS to investigate pro-environmental concerns and behavior, as well as suggestions for further research are discussed.

Nature relatedness: A protective factor for snake and spider fears and phobias

AbstractWorldwide, urbanization has created completely novel environments, which bring many conveniences but carry several drawbacks too. One of the most important disadvantages is that most people living in cities lose contact with nature including interaction with animals. Current evidence shows that countries with lower levels of urbanization also have a lower prevalence of animal fears and phobias.Here, we sought to test whether nature relatedness (NR) and residence size serve as protective factors to the most common animal fears and phobias (i.e. that of snakes and spiders).We used the NR Scale to measure the individuals' subjective connection with nature. Participants (N = 1,071, aged 18–65 years) were also asked to complete the Snake and Spider Questionnaire (SNAQ and SPQ, respectively) and to rate pictures of snakes and spiders according to valence, arousal and dominance. To explore complex relationships between various explanatory and response variables, we employed a generalized linear model, redundancy analysis and structural equation modelling.Results show that snake and spider fear is strongly associated with the NR total score. Participants scoring higher on the SNAQ and SPQ also evaluate snake and spider images more negatively, are more aroused by the stimuli but feel less dominant over them. Moreover, subjects with higher snake or spider fear scored lower on the NR scale, especially its two subscales, Experience and Perspective.Results demonstrate that the more people feel connected to nature, the less they are affected by animal fears or phobias. We believe this study presents an important implication for both conservationist endeavours and therapeutic interventions.Read the freePlain Language Summaryfor this article on the Journal blog.

Does Spending Time in Nature Help Students Cope with the COVID-19 Pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our economy, social lives, and mental health, and it therefore provides a unique chance for researchers to examine how people cope with changes to their everyday activities. Research suggests that people may be spending more time in nature than they did pre-pandemic. The current study sheds light on how nature is being used to cope with the stresses of the global health crisis and lockdowns. Canadian undergraduate students (N = 559) filled out a questionnaire during the fall of 2020 about their pandemic experience, including their affects, life satisfaction, and feelings of flourishing and vitality, in addition to a wide variety of nature variables. The weekly exposures, the perceived increases or decreases in the exposure to nature during the pandemic, and the feelings of connectedness (nature relatedness) were assessed. Those who felt like they were spending more time in nature than they did pre-pandemic experienced more subjective well-being. Nature-related individuals were more likely to access nature and to appreciate it more during the pandemic than others, but all people (even those less connected) experienced well-being benefits from spending more time in nature. Going into nature appears to be an increasingly popular and effective coping strategy to boost or maintain subjective well-being during the pandemic.

How to encourage parents to let children play in nature: Factors affecting parental perception of children's nature play

Despite the benefits to the children playing in nature being widely recognized, merely enhancing children’s interest in nature will not effectively increase their nature experience because children’s activity nowadays is increasingly under their parents’ supervision. Therefore, to identify effective strategies, it is important to understand parental perceptions of children’s nature play and their influencing factors. We explored the impact of factors including parents’ childhood nature experience (CNE), nature relatedness (NR), degree of urbanization, and socio-demographic characteristics using the results of an online survey of 516 parents in Japan. We found that most parents acknowledged the importance of children’s nature play; however, they expressed their concerns about barriers against it, particularly related to incidents such as accidents and strangers. Although NR and CNE were the key contributors to parents’ understanding of nature’s benefits, these factors did not decrease their fear of incidents involving their children. Parents were highly unlikely to permit their children to play without adult supervision in green spaces, except parks; this was contrary to the freedom they were given in their childhood. This is probably due to parents’ heightened concerns about incidents, even though actual incident rates have been reduced. Therefore, a key approach to encourage parents to allow their children to play in nature is to mitigate their anxiety about incidents. Since parks are the only green space where most parents nowadays allow their children to play unsupervised, enhancing the quality of natural elements in the parks will enrich children’s interaction with nature, while alleviating parents' uneasiness about children's safety.

Pro-environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behaviours and nature-relatedness: Differences based on place preference

IntroductionThis study explored whether place preference, an individual's relationship with place, differentiated people on pro-environmental attitudes, nature-relatedness and pro-environmental behavior. ObjectiveThe aim was to provide a way to segment people and potentially inform behavior change messaging strategies targeting pro-environmental action. MethodOnline participants reported an urban/nature place preference, completed a sense of place measure in reference to this categorisation, followed by counter-balanced nature-relatedness, pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour measures. ResultsParticipants reported moderate-to-high levels of sense of place generally and place attachment specifically. Positive associations between sense of place, nature relatedness, pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours existed; but differed by place preference. Correlations were positive in the nature preference group but negative or non-significant in the urban preference group. Individuals with a nature preference reported higher nature-relatedness, pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behavior. ConclusionThe results suggest place preference can discriminate individuals on a range of pro-environmental concepts and may have potential for behavior change strategies targeting these outcomes.

Nature-Based Physical Activity and Hedonic and Eudaimonic Wellbeing: The Mediating Roles of Motivational Quality and Nature Relatedness.

The current study evaluated the degree to which nature-based physical activity (NPA) influenced two distinct types of psychological wellbeing: hedonic wellbeing and eudaimonic wellbeing. The type of motivation an individual experiences for physical activity, and the extent to which individuals have a sense of relatedness with nature, have been shown to influence the specific type of psychological wellbeing that is experienced as a result of NPA. However, the role of these two variables in the relationship between NPA and psychological wellbeing has not been examined. Thus, this study assessed the potential mediating influence of (1) motivational quality and (2) nature relatedness on the relationships between NPA and hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing, respectively. Participants (N = 262) completed an online survey assessing hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing, NPA, intrinsic motivation, autonomous extrinsic motivation, and nature relatedness. Data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. Results showed that motivational quality and nature relatedness both fully mediated the relationships between NPA and hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Specifically, intrinsic motivation positively mediated the relationship between NPA and hedonic wellbeing. Autonomous extrinsic motivation and nature relatedness positively mediated the relationship between NPA and eudaimonic wellbeing. These findings suggest that the associations between NPA and eudaimonic wellbeing and hedonic wellbeing, respectively, are driven by different mechanisms relating to an individual’s (1) underlying motivation and (2) sense of connection to nature. These findings suggest that promoting distinct types of wellbeing (hedonic vs. eudaimonic) through NPA requires distinct approaches. Emphasising enjoyment, pleasure, and positive kinaesthetic experiences within NPA may be more conducive to hedonic wellbeing, while highlighting opportunities for connecting with nature or experiencing valued outcomes of NPA may be more conducive to eudaimonic wellbeing.

Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness

The potential of using immersive virtual reality (iVR) technologies to enhance nature relatedness by embodying non-human beings, such as plants or animals, is only sparsely researched. To contribute to this emerging research field we conducted an experimental study (N = 28) that compared the effects of the viewing condition (iVR or desktop) while embodying a tree on nature relatedness, perspective-taking and, as a control, on perceived immersion. A mixed-method approach employing quantitative and qualitative questions was used. Our results showed that irrespective of condition allocation, the more immersed participants felt in their experience, the greater they reported increased levels of nature relatedness (r = 0.42, p < .05). While our quantitative data did yield a difference in immersion levels between the viewing condition (iVR vs. video, t(26) = 2.05, p = .05, d = .50) that did not translate into a stronger experimental effect of the iVR condition on nature relatedness (FInteraction(1,26) < 1). Regarding perspective taking, no significant differences between both groups emerged in the number of users who self-reported having fully taken on the perspective of the tree, (χ2(1) = 2.33, p = .127). However, only participants from the iVR group described their experience from a first-person perspective, suggesting a higher level of identification with the tree. This matches the observation that only those participants also reported self-reflective processes of their own role as a human being towards nature. Our results support previous research suggesting that experiencing nature via immersive VR in itself does not seem to suffice for creating an effect on nature relatedness. However, we observed that a higher perceived level of immersion for participants experiencing the embodiment of a tree in the iVR condition provoked reflective processes on one’s own role towards nature more strongly. We discuss the role of immersion and further factors to explain these differences and suggest steps for future research settings to help understand the beneficial potential of using immersive VR for nature relatedness.

Looking at buildings or trees? Association of human nature relatedness with eye movements in outdoor space

This study explored how nature relatedness (NR) was linked with human eye movements in outdoor space. We created a 360-degree virtual reality scene that contained half urban setting of buildings and half nature area of trees, and recorded 112 participants' eye movements (total visit duration and total fixation duration ratio) during 1 min of free viewing. It was found that individuals’ NR score correlated with their eye movements on the area of interests (AOIs), i.e., total fixation duration ratio on Trees (r (110) = 0.341, p < .001). Further analyses of the correlations between three subscales of NR scale and eye-tracking data revealed that NR-Self was related to eye movements significantly, but not for NR-Perception and NR-Experience. The paired t-tests result showed that people with Low NR score spent more time looking at buildings than trees, while the High NR group did the opposite. For the medium NR group, no distinct eye movements difference between trees and buildings was detected. The outcomes shed light on the divergence of individual visual attention in a mix of natural and built environment. Our finding also determined the efficacy of NR scale with physical measurements of behavior.

Psychedelic use predicts objective knowledge about climate change via increases in nature relatedness

Lifetime psychedelic substance use has previously been linked to nature relatedness and pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, participants’ responses to the self-report measures in these studies may have been affected by stereotypical associations or confirmation bias. We therefore re-examined this link by measuring three pro-environmental dependent variables: nature relatedness, concerns about climate change, and objective knowledge about climate change. Additionally assessing lifetime experience with 30 psychoactive substances, we collected an international convenience sample for an online survey ( n = 641), Controlling for age, educational attainment, and covariation in substance use indicators, psychedelic use (primarily the use of psilocybin) predicted objective knowledge about climate change directly, and indirectly via nature relatedness. Further, it predicted concern about climate change indirectly via nature relatedness. The results suggest that the relationship of psychedelics with pro-environmental variables is not due to psychological biases, but manifests in variables as diverse as emotional affinity towards nature as well as knowledge about climate change.

Adaptation and latent structure of the Brazilian version of the Ego Dissolution Inventory (EDI-BR): an exploratory study.

Existing scales that seek to measure alterations in self-experience were developed based on studies conducted in developed countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Ego Dissolution Inventory (EDI) after translating and adapting it for the Brazilian context. The measure was translated by two translators fluent in both English and Portuguese, followed by back-translation into English to ensure there was no loss of meaning. The scale was used in an online survey exploring substance use. A total of 528 participants answered the full scale. We calculated the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure to evaluate sampling adequacy, then ran exploratory factor analysis (EFAs) to investigate the factor structure of the EDI. The scale showed acceptable psychometric properties, with excellent internal consistency and sampling adequacy for factor analysis. Kaiser-Guttman's criteria and Hull's method indicated a three-factor solution, while parallel analysis suggested a two-factor solution. All items showed salient loadings, with two items exhibiting cross-loading. Positive but weak correlations were found between EDI factors 1 and 2 and nature relatedness. The validated scale showed solid psychometric properties, with potential differences in factor structure in relation to the English version. Considering validation is an ongoing process, it is recommended that studies be conducted comparing ego dissolution scores across distinct substances and different regions of the country.

Indigenous Culture and Nature Relatedness: Results from a Community-Led Study

Indigenous Culture and Nature Relatedness: Results from a Community-Led Study

Pro-Environmental Behavior of Undergraduate Students as a Function of Nature Relatedness and Awareness of Environmental Consequences

Pro-Environmental Behavior of Undergraduate Students as a Function of Nature Relatedness and Awareness of Environmental Consequences

Human-nature connection and soundscape perception: Insights from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Human disconnection from nature is thought to have contributed to the environmental crises we currently face, and increasing connection with nature has been proposed as one way of promoting pro-environmental behavior, nature conservation, and social-ecological sustainability. Some efforts to increase connection with nature (“nature relatedness”) have centered on exploring the social-ecological importance of soundscapes, but there is a paucity of empirical evidence supporting the theoretical linkage between soundscape perception and nature relatedness. Using prerecorded and in situ soundscape prompts, we conducted a street intercept survey in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina to assess: 1) the relative importance of senses in experiences of nature, 2) the relationship between nature relatedness and soundscape perception, 3) differences in soundscape perception between various soundscapes, and 4) possible sociodemographic influences on sense importance, nature relatedness, and soundscape perception. Participants reported that hearing was of secondary importance to vision in experiences of nature. We also found that nature relatedness was positively correlated with the valuation of soundscapes—particularly more natural ones—but not with the discernment of soundscapes or identification of where soundscapes were recorded. Valuation of more natural soundscapes was higher than valuation of more technophonically dominated soundscapes, while soundscape discernment and location identification were higher for soundscapes that were likely more familiar to listeners. Sociodemographic influences on these variables were minor, but women reported higher sense importance, and having a nature-based occupation was associated with higher nature relatedness and valuation of a soundscape from a penguin colony. Our study highlighted a number of potential research areas concerning soundscape perception, including differences between prerecorded and in situ soundscape prompts, defining various aspects of soundscape perception, and the relative influences of sound sources and quantitative acoustic parameters on soundscape perception. Further research is certainly needed to account for global diversity in cultures and soundscapes, but we found some promising empirical support for the use of natural-soundscape-focused educational programs in efforts to promote nature relatedness.

Gaze correlates of view preference: Comparing natural and urban scenes

When looking out of a window, natural views are usually associated with restorative qualities and are given a higher preference than urban scenes. Previous research has shown that gaze behaviour might differ based on the natural or urban content of views. A lower number of fixations has been associated with the aesthetic evaluation of natural scenes while, when looking at an urban environment, a high preference has been correlated with more exploratory gaze behaviours. To characterise gaze correlates of view preference across natural and urban scenes, we collected and analysed experimental data featuring subjective preference ratings, eye-tracking measures, verbal reasoning associated with preference and nature relatedness scores. Consistent with the literature, our results confirm that natural scenes are more preferred than urban views and that gaze behaviours depend on view type and preference. Observing natural scenes was characterised by lower numbers of fixations and saccades, and longer fixation durations, compared to urban views. However, for both view types, most preferred scenes led to more fixations and saccades. Our findings also showed that nature relatedness may be correlated with visual exploration of scenes. Individual preferences and personality attributes, therefore, should be accounted for in studies on view preference and gaze behaviour.

Nature at work: The effects of day-to-day nature contact on workers’ stress and psychological well-being

ObjectivesChronic stress and burnout are key health issues for office workers that may contribute to a myriad of poor health outcomes. The presence of natural elements may improve psychological well-being in workers but the number of existing studies is relatively low, and more longitudinal research is specifically needed to assess how characteristics of workers’ day-to-day environments may impact mental health outcomes like affect, depression and stress. This report outlines a multi-study investigation of workers at Amazon, a multinational e-commerce company based in Seattle, Washington, USA, and the mental health benefits associated with exposure to nature. MethodsIn Study 1, participants (n = 153) responded to a cross-sectional survey that assessed the association of self-reported visitation to an indoor company greenspace with psychological well-being including symptoms of depression, anxiety, positive and negative affect, and stress. In Study 2, a subset of participants from Study 1 (n = 33) completed multiple surveys in a 2-week period that assessed the association of the naturalness of their current environments with their state levels of psychological well-being. ResultsWe found contact with more natural outdoor environments was significantly associated with reduced state anxiety, after adjusting for activity type, location, and participants’ trait levels of nature relatedness. ConclusionsFindings demonstrate that nature contact in everyday life is significantly associated with decreased levels of state anxiety. More research is needed to investigate the role of nature contact as a potential intervention in the workplace for improved mental health.

Examining the Mediating Role of Altruism in the Relationship between Empathic Tendencies, the Nature Relatedness, and Environmental Consciousness

A study was conducted using a correlational screening model to determine the mediating effect of altruism in the relationship between empathic tendencies, the nature relatedness and environmental consciousness. The participants of the study, selected via random cluster sampling design, are composed of 305 pre-school teachers working in pre-schools and kindergartens in a city located in Turkey’s Aegean region. The ‘Empathic Tendency Scale’, ‘Altruism Scale’, ‘Nature Relatedness Scale’, and ‘Environmental Consciousness Scale’ were used as data collection tools. The analyses of the sub-purposes were carried out using the PROCESS macro (Model 4) developed by Andrew Hayes using the SPSS infrastructure. When the study results were examined, the indirect effects of the empathic tendency on nature relatedness and environmental consciousness were found to be significant. Thus, altruism was the mediator for the relationship between the empathic tendency and nature relatedness (β=.13, 95% BCA CI [.08; .19]) and for the relationship between emphatic tendency and environmental consciousness (β=.36, %95 BCA CI [.18; .57]).

Urban nature at the fingertips: Investigating wild food foraging to enable nature interactions of urban dwellers

Meaningful human–nature interactions can counteract the extinction of experience and positively influence people’s nature relatedness, health and wellbeing. In this study, we explored urban wild food foraging to understand how best to enable human-nature interactions in cities by means of foraging. Using a structured questionnaire, a total of 458 residents of Vienna, Austria were surveyed. Sixty-four percent of visitors of public urban green spaces previously foraged for wild food species, whereas foraging frequencies were related to the targeted plant species and their life forms. People who foraged more frequently had greater nature relatedness, more childhood foraging experiences and lived on the outskirts of the city, but their socio-demographic backgrounds were heterogeneous. Social acceptance and lack of access to wild foods were perceived to be barriers. To promote nature relatedness through urban foraging, the legal framework, access to low-contamination foraging areas, availability of wild foods and social acceptance need to be improved.

Cumulative Frequency of Nature Dose: How Continuous and Regular Forest Walking Improves Nature Relatedness, Restorativeness, and Learning Engagement in College Students

Forest is a natural resource that provides natural walking as a popular leisure activity for urban residents. From the perspective of “dose of nature”, continuous contact with natural environments and engagement in natural activities can gradually promote positive health benefits. This study aims to explore the “cumulative frequency of nature dose” through regular forest walking. Ten college students were recruited to walk once a week for 30 min in the campus forest. Eight weeks of forest walking experiences were collected by administering questionnaires on nature relatedness, mental health, restorativeness, and learning engagement before the first walk, as well as after the fourth and the eighth walks. The findings of this study revealed that regular forest activities can induce accumulated natural benefits. By taking at least 30 min of forest walks once a week continuously for eight weeks, the subjects improved their mental health, increased learning engagement in school, gained more attention recovery and reflection experiences, and re-established a relationship with nature. In addition, different doses of natural benefits were observed for different cumulative processes.