08. Changing minds - beyond contact, nature connection
- 1. Beyond Contact: Nature Connection DR RYAN LUMBER DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY RYAN.LUMBER@DMU.AC.UK @DMUPSYCHOLOGY
- 2. The challenge 50% of the global population now living in urban environments (Lin et al., 2014) Increased engagement with technology or ‘screen time’ and sedentary lifestyles (The Wild Network, 2016) Increase in prevalence of lifestyle diseases (Wagner et al., 2001) as well as mental health conditions (Lederbogen et al., 2011) Sixth mass extinction of species: Loss of biodiversity = less opportunity to meaningfully engage with nature Human Exemptionism (Catton & Dunlap, 1978) which may be a driver of irresponsible environmental behaviour (Schofield & Margulis, 2012)
- 3. Biophilia Value Definition Function Utilitarian Practical use of material nature Sustaining physical life and security Naturalistic Pleasure from contact with nature Development of mental, physical and outdoor skills and development Ecologistic- Scientific Scientific study of the interconnectedness of nature and natural systems Observing nature, increasing knowledge and understanding Aesthetic Appeal of nature’s physical beauty Feelings of security, inspiration and contentedness Symbolic Expressing ideas through nature based language and metaphors Developing mentally, communicating with others/nature Humanistic Emotional bond with, and love for nature Companionship, bonding and co-operation Moralistic Ethical concern/judgements and revering nature Moral reasoning, meaning of life, affiliation Dominionistic Control and dominance of nature Technological/mechanical skill, physicality, control Negativistic Aversion, removal and fear of nature Security and physical protection
- 4. Nature Connection The sensation of belonging to a wider natural community (Mayer et al., 2009) Nature Connection is subjective and multi-dimensional, comprised of: ◦ Cognitions (Schultz,2001) ◦ Emotions (Mayer & Frantz, 2004) ◦ Social identity (Clayton, 2012) ◦ Learning and experience (Nisbet et al., 2009) ◦ Personality factors (Kals et al., 1999)
- 5. Health Nature provides direct physical benefits to our health (Russell et al., 2013) while exposure to nature leads to lower cortisol levels (Logan & Selhub, 2012) Access to local natural spaces could reduce health inequality (Logan & Selhub, 2012; Mitchell & Popham, 2008) Nature connection, when coupled with openness, linked to the ability to cope, providing resilience to disease through an improved immune system function (Cervinka, Roderer & Hefler, 2012) Nature connection linked to repeated engagement with natural spaces (Lin et al., 2014) so could be a useful motivator for green exercise
- 6. Wellbeing & Mental Health Meta analyses indicate nature & nature connection are as important as established factors such as income & education for wellbeing (Capaldi et al., 2014) Nature connection acts as a moderator of the relationship between nature and wellbeing outcomes (Zhang et al., 2014) Spending time in nature and noting down 3 good things can increase wellbeing (Richardson & Sheffield, 2017) 3 good things & nature also showed success in decreasing negative affect & increasing positive affect in patients with depression & anxiety (Keenan & Lumber, unpublished) Different wellbeing benefits can be experienced (Richardson et al., 2016): Hedonic - seeking pleasure – subjective well-being Eudaimonic - wider sources of pleasure – personal growth
- 7. Pro-Environmentalism Nature connection is suggested to be an important part of pro- environmentalism (Tam, 2013) Positive relationship between nature connection and pro-environmental attitudes (Mayer & Frantz, 2004), as well as self-reported behaviour (Richardson et al., 2016) Is one of many factors that are important for pro-environmental behaviours Nature connection may be especially important for commitment to sacrifice (Davis, Le, & Coy, 2011)
- 8. Pathways Two online surveys (total n = 321) looking at the types of activities people did in nature and their nature connection Explained 61% and 62% of the variance of nature connection respectively Followed up by an experimental intervention where only engaging with the pathway activities in nature led to increases in nature connection when compared with simple exposure to nature or pathway activities in the built environment
- 9. Pathways Pathway Operational Definition Contact The act of meeting with nature through the physical senses Emotion An affective state or sensation that occurs as a result of engaging with nature Meaning Using nature or natural symbolism to communicate a concept that is not directly expressed Compassion Extending the self to include nature, leading to a concern for other natural entities, one that motivates understanding and helping/co- operation Beauty The perception of aesthetic qualities including shape, colour, and form that please the physical senses
- 10. Communicating Nature Connection & its Benefits What methods could we use to communicate the benefits of nature and how to experience them more effectively? Are there any barriers or pitfalls to avoid/be mindful of?
- 11. Communicating Nature and Benefits Framing any activity is key; the pathways are a useful framework to do this Move away from passive contact & a complete emphasis on learning Experiencing nature first hand is important Focussing on our similarities to evoke compassion is important; we are a cooperative rather than competitive species after all…
- 13. The Joy & Calm Model (Richardson et al.,2017) 3 Circles Model shows the 3 dimensions of our emotion regulation system – two types of happy. How nature brings balance to our feelings and the nervous system that controls the function of our body, and organs such as the heart
- 14. Barriers & Pitfalls Need to be aware that averse reactions to nature can occur & not everyone have positive responses to all aspects Need to be careful that we don’t focus too heavily on the appealing or beautiful aspects of nature i.e. only protect what we love could have disastrous Technology is an issue; is it a help or hinderance?
- 15. NCI As part of NE’s strategic research programme, a partnership of researchers and practitioner organisations that have funded and worked to develop a new simple measure for nature connection that can be used in a national survey context with both adults and children. This focuses on measuring the affective aspects of nature connection that you will have been talking about. Results from the pilot were published earlier this year by NE (see link) - the new measure can differentiate levels of nature connection among the population and analysis against other measures in the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment Survey found a good correlation between nature connection and both wellbeing and environmental outcomes. http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5337609808642048 The group are now working on phase 2 - so watch this space! Meanwhile Anne Hunt from the SRG will be sharing results from the pilot at the communicate conference.
- 16. Q & A
- 17. References Capaldi, C. A., Dopko, R. L. & Zelenski, J. M. (2014). The relationship between nature connectedness and happiness: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1-28, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00976 Catton W. R. & Dunlap, R. E. (1978). Environmental sociology: A new paradigm. American Sociologist, 13(1), 41-49. Cervinka, R., Roderer, K. & Hefler, E. (2012). Are nature lovers happy? On various indicators of well-being and connectedness with nature. Journal of Health Psychology, 17(3), 379-388. doi: 10.1177/1359105311416873 Clayton, S. (2012). Environment and Identity. The Oxford Handbook of Environmental and Conservation Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press Davis, J. L., Le, B., & Coy, A. E. (2011). Building a model of commitment to the natural environment to predict ecological behaviour and willingness to sacrifice. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 31, 257–265. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2011.01.004 Kals, E., Schumacher, D. & Montada, L. (1999). Emotional affinity toward nature as a motivational basis to protect nature. Environment and Behaviour, 31(2), 178-202 Logan, A. C. & Selhub, E. M. (2012). Vis Medicatrix naturae: does nature “minister to the mind”? BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 6(1), 11. doi:10.1186/1751-0759-6-11 Lin, B. B., Fuller, R. A., Bush, R., Gaston, K. J. & Shanahan, D. F. (2014). Opportunity or orientation? Who uses urban parks and why. PLOSOne, 9(1), 1-7. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087422 Lumber, R., Richardson, M., & Sheffield, D. (2017). Beyond knowing nature: Contact, emotion, compassion, meaning, and beauty are pathways to nature connection. PLoSONE, 12(5). Lederbogen, F., Kirsch, P., Haddad, L., Streit, F., Tost, H., Schuch, P., . . . Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2011). City living and urban upbringing affect neural social stress processing in humans.Nature, 474(7352), 498-501. doi:10.1038/nature10190 Mayer, F. S. & Frantz, C. M. (2004). The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of individuals’ feeling in community with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24(4), 503–515. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2004.10.001 Mayer, F. S., Frantz, C. M., Bruehlman-Senecal, E. & Dolliver, K. (2009). Why is nature beneficial? The role of Connectedness to Nature. Environment and Behaviour, 41, 607-643. doi: 10.1177/0013916508319745
- 18. References Mitchell, R. & Popham, F. (2008). Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study. The Lancet, 372, 1655- 1660. Nisbet, E. K., Zelenski, J. M. & Murphy, S. A. (2009). The nature relatedness scale: linking individuals’ connection with nature to environmental concern and behaviour. Environment and Behaviour, 41(5), 715–740. doi:10.1177/0013916508318748 Richardson, M., Cormack, A., McRobert, L. & Underhill, R. (2016). 30 Days Wild: Development and Evaluation of a Large-Scale Nature Engagement Campaign to Improve Well-Being. PLoSONE 11(2): e0149777. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149777 Richardson, M., McEwan, K., Maratos, F. & Sheffield, D. (2016). Joy and Calm: How an Evolutionary Functional Model of Affect Regulation Informs Positive Emotions in Nature. Evolutionary Psychological Science. doi:10.1007/s40806-016-0065-5 Richardson, M. & Sheffield, D. (2017). Three good things in nature: Noticing nearby nature brings sustained increases in connection with nature. Psyecology. Russell, R., Guerry, A. D., Balvanera, P., Gould, R. K., Basurto, X., Chan, K. M-A., Klain, S., Levine, J. & Tam, J. (2013). Humans and nature: how knowing and experiencing nature affect well-being. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 38(6), 6.1-6.30. doi: 10.1146/annurev-environ-012312-110838 Schofield, B. & Margulis, (2012). Psychological discontent: self and science on our symbiotic planet in Kahn, P. H. & Hasbach, P. H. (eds) Ecopsychology Science, Totems and the Technological Species. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. Schultz, P. W. (2001). The structure of environmental concern: Concern for self, other people, and the biosphere. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21(4), 327–339. doi:10.1006/jevp.2001.0227 Tam, K.-P. (2013). Concepts and measures related to connection to nature: Similarities and differences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 34, 64–78. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.01.004 The Wild Network (2016). Our story. Retrieved from http://www.thewildnetwork.com/about Wagner, E. H., Austin, B. T., Davis, C., Hindmarsh, M., Schaefer, J. & Bonomi, A. (2001). Improving chronic illness care: Translating evidence into action. Health Affairs, 20(6), 64-78 Zelenski, J. M., Dopko, R. L. & Capaldi, C. A. (2015). Cooperation is in our nature: Nature exposure may promote cooperative and environmentally sustainable behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.01.005. Zhang, J. W., Howell, R. T., & Iyer, R. (2014). Engagement with natural beauty moderates the positive relation between connectedness with nature and psychological well-being. Journal of Environmental Psychology. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.12.013
Editor's Notes
- #11: What methods could we use to communicate the benefits of nature and how to experience them more effectively? Are there any barriers or pitfalls to avoid/be mindful of?
- #14: However even though most of the research into the benefits of nature considers positive emotions, few if any consider the physiological basis. I think this 3 circles model provides an excellent way to show people why emotions matter, and it can be framed using nature itself. Returning to joy and calm… Hedonic - seeking pleasure – subjective well-being Eudaimonic - wider sources of pleasure – personal growth