TY - JOUR
T1 - Why does nature enhance psychological well-being?A Self-Determination account
AU - Yang, Ying
AU - Cai, Huajian
AU - Yang, Ziyan
AU - Zhao, Xiaochong
AU - Li, Mei
AU - Han, Rui
AU - Chen, Sylvia Xiaohua
N1 - Funding Information:
The research is supported by National Social Science Fund of China ( 17ZDA324 ) and Mental Health Research Centre Seed Fund ( P0040456 ), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - This research proposes a novel account for the established benefits of nature on psychological well-being from the perspective of Self-Determination Theory. That is, nature enhances psychological well-being by satisfying the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Compared with non-nature control settings, two field experiments consistently showed that participants who were exposed to nature scenes manifested higher levels of positive affect, life satisfaction and meaning in life; and satisfaction of the three psychological needs mediated these nature effects. Three laboratory studies replicated these findings by exposing participants to digital nature scenes (vs. non-nature ones) or indoor plants (vs. control setting without indoor plants) or engaging them in nature-related activities (vs. non-nature related ones), with the exception of a non-significant effect of nature on satisfaction of relatedness. Taken together, these studies provided convergent evidence for our proposition, shedding light on the mechanisms underlying the benefits of nature on psychological well-being.
AB - This research proposes a novel account for the established benefits of nature on psychological well-being from the perspective of Self-Determination Theory. That is, nature enhances psychological well-being by satisfying the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Compared with non-nature control settings, two field experiments consistently showed that participants who were exposed to nature scenes manifested higher levels of positive affect, life satisfaction and meaning in life; and satisfaction of the three psychological needs mediated these nature effects. Three laboratory studies replicated these findings by exposing participants to digital nature scenes (vs. non-nature ones) or indoor plants (vs. control setting without indoor plants) or engaging them in nature-related activities (vs. non-nature related ones), with the exception of a non-significant effect of nature on satisfaction of relatedness. Taken together, these studies provided convergent evidence for our proposition, shedding light on the mechanisms underlying the benefits of nature on psychological well-being.
KW - Basic psychological needs
KW - Nature
KW - Self-determination theory
KW - Well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139286644&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101872
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101872
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85139286644
SN - 0272-4944
VL - 83
JO - Journal of Environmental Psychology
JF - Journal of Environmental Psychology
M1 - 101872
ER -