Promoting meaningful and positive nature interactions for visitors to green spaces

Abstract

The increasing alienation of people from nature is profoundly concerning because people's interactions with nature affect well-being, affinity for nature, and support of biodiversity conservation. Efforts to restore or enhance people's interactions with nature are, therefore, important to ensure sustainable human and wildlife communities, but little is known about how this can be achieved. A key factor that shapes the way people interact with nature is their affinity for nature (often measured as nature relatedness [NR]). We explored how using cues to experience nature as a means to induce NR situationally can influence the quality of people's nature interactions on visits to green spaces and their positive affect after the visit. Cues to experience are cues that guide individuals on how to interact with nature. We surveyed 1023 visitors to a nature reserve to examine the relationships between trait (i.e., stable and long-lasting) and state (i.e., temporary, brief) NR, the quality of nature interactions, and positive affect. We also conducted a controlled experiment in which 303 participants spent 30 min outdoors on campus and reported the quality of their nature interactions and positive affect. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 9 cues-to-experience experimental groups (e.g., smell flowers, observe wildlife, turn off your phone) that differed in the psychological distance from nature that they prompted. Participants who received cues of close psychological distance from nature (e.g., smell and touch natural elements) interacted 3 to 4 times more with nature and reported 0.2 more positive affect than other participants. Our results demonstrate that providing cues to experience nature, which bring people closer to nature and potentially induce state NR, can enhance the quality of people's nature interactions and their positive affect. These results highlight the role of NR in high-quality nature interactions and suggest the use of cues to experience as a promising avenue for inducing state NR and promoting meaningful interactions with biodiversity, thus, reconciling conservation and well-being objectives.

Introduction: New directions in conservation psychology at a critical time

“…These results suggest that positive beliefs in the absence of prior experiences may inhibit the adoption of new conservation behaviors in routine contexts where habits have formed. Colléony et al (2020) demonstrate that in relatively novel situations where habits are less established, such as visiting a nature preserve, proconservation behaviors and positive emotions can be prompted with specific messaging. Further research would need to determine the durability and generalizability of this type of behavior change.…”

“…Colléony et al. (2020) and Lishcka et al. (2020) effectively demonstrate that experiments and quasi experiments can be employed within cross‐sectional (one time) and longitudinal (follow‐up or repeated‐exposure) designs when such designs have treatments and control groups, random assignment into groups, and treatments that are ethical in the conservation context (Newing 2011).…”

“…2020 [this issue]), people's adaptability to external prompts about nature engagement while visiting nature preserves in Israel (Colléony et al. 2020 [this issue]), homeowners’ compliance with techniques to reduce trash raiding by American black bears ( Ursus americanus ) in the Rocky Mountains (U.S.A.) (Lischka et al. 2020 [this issue]), and social influences on Tanzanian tradespeople's decisions to hunt wildlife to sell as bushmeat (Nielsen & Jacobsen 2020 [this issue]).…”

“…Colléony et al. (2020) demonstrate that in relatively novel situations where habits are less established, such as visiting a nature preserve, proconservation behaviors and positive emotions can be prompted with specific messaging. Further research would need to determine the durability and generalizability of this type of behavior change.…”

“…Authors in this special section investigated the first pillar of conservation psychology by identifying how context shapes behavior. These contexts included planners' use of social data in decision making about marine protected areas in the Pacific Northwest of the United States (Biedenweg et al 2020 [this issue]), people's adaptability to external prompts about nature engagement while visiting nature preserves in Israel (Colléony et al 2020 [this issue]), homeowners' compliance with techniques to reduce trash raiding by American black bears (Ursus americanus) in the Rocky Mountains (U.S.A.) (Lischka et al 2020 [this issue]), and social influences on Tanzanian tradespeople's decisions to hunt wildlife to sell as bushmeat (Nielsen & Jacobsen 2020 [this issue]). Collectively, these authors demonstrate how context influences decision making among experts on the job, individuals at home or away, and community members making business-related transactions.…”