Identifying with Nature Mediates the Influence of Valuing Nature's Beauty on Proenvironmental Behaviors

The unexplored territory of aesthetic needs and the development of the Aesthetic Needs Scale

Human needs, and their fulfillment, are the building blocks of human development, personality, and well-being. However, no published paper in the field of psychology has focused on exploring aesthetic needs. Maslow (1986) gave the topic little more than a paragraph; and Dweck [1], in her elegant Unified Theory of Motivation, Personality, and Development, never mentions aesthetic needs. The aim of this article is to describe developing a scale for measuring the intensity of aesthetic needs. The structure, psychometric properties, and criterion-related validity of the scale were verified with three independent samples (total N = 592). The results of an EFA and two CFAs indicated a three-factor structure: 1) the need to aestheticize everyday life (aesthetic experiences of everyday objects and events unrelated to art, such as the presentation of food or the appearance of a workspace, etc.); 2) the need for contact with aesthetic creations (the arts); 3) the need to aestheticize the built and natural environments (urban spaces, architecture, parks, wild nature, etc.). In addition, our criterion-related convergent validity studies have shown that people with high aesthetic needs are characterized by experiencing more intense experiences in contact with works of art, have higher aesthetic competence in art, are more intensely involved in four forms of beauty, have a higher ability to integrate beauty, a stronger trait gratitude, curiosity about nature, greater sensitivity to disgust, and the need for internal and external stimulation. This scale may prove useful in research on individual differences and the psychology of aesthetics.

Ecological experiential learning and tourists' pro-environmental behavior intentions: The mediating roles of awe and nature connection

Due to the important role of tourists' behavior plays in marine protected areas (MPAs) and the increasing popularity of ecological experiential learning (EEL) journeys, this study aims to investigate whether and how EEL impact tourists' pro-environmental behavior (PEB) intentions through both emotional and cognitive pathways. To achieve this, four nature education trips with EEL content were organized, and PEB intentions of 228 tourists to MPAs were analyzed using surveys. The findings revealed that the low-effort PEB intentions of individuals under 24 years old were significantly lower compared to those of older tourists. Furthermore, EEL was positively associated with both low and high effort PEB intentions. The sense of awe acted as a mediator between EEL and low-effort PEB intentions, whereas nature connection was found to mediate the relationship between EEL and both low and high-effort PEB intentions. This study contributes to the growing body of research on the drivers of tourists PEB and provides a theoretical framework for promoting PEB intentions in MPAs.''''.

Level of attention mediates the association between connectedness to nature and aesthetic evaluations of photographs of nature

Aesthetic experiences of nature are associated with beneficial psychological and behavioural outcomes. We investigated in a laboratory study whether an individual's level of connectedness to nature is associated with their aesthetic sensitivity to images of natural scenes, and whether the amount of attention allocated to the images mediated this association. Participants (N = 82) viewed 14 photographs depicting natural scenes and evaluated them on three aesthetic dimensions and completed the Connectedness to Nature (CN) and Openness to Experience (OtE) scales. CN positively predicted pleasure, beauty and aesthetic emotion, independently of OtE. The amount of attention participants paid to the images mediated the relationship between connectedness to nature and aesthetic pleasure, and connectedness to nature and beauty ratings. These findings extend our understanding by showing that attention is an important mechanism through which nature connectedness influences aesthetic responses of pleasantness and beauty in response to natural scenes. The findings have real-world implications as appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of nature is associated with a number of beneficial psychological outcomes.

Climate Change Beliefs, Personal Environmental Norms and Environmentally Conscious Behaviour Intention

Purpose—The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between climate change beliefs, personal environmental norms and environmentally conscious behaviour. This study also investigates how the relationship between climate change beliefs and environmentally conscious behaviour is mediated by environmental identity. Design/methodology/approach—A survey conducted online involving 564 Australians informs the findings. Data analysis is performed using AMOS, a structural equation modelling package. Findings—This study finds strong positive relationships between climate change beliefs, personal environmental norms and environmentally conscious behaviour. The relationship between climate change beliefs and environmentally conscious behaviour is partially mediated by environmental identity. In addition, this study also finds that the relationships between personnel environmental norms, and environmental identity and environmentally conscious behaviour are partially mediated by climate change beliefs. Further, both personal environmental norms and climate change beliefs play stronger roles than environmental identity in environmentally conscious behaviour. Originality—This study engages in a scholarly conversation which claims the predictability of personal environmental norms in environmentally conscious behaviour. It adds value by establishing boundary conditions to some conversations in the field of study that claim environmental identity can be a better predictor of environmentally conscious behaviour. Research implications and limitations—This study postulates an integrated framework of value, beliefs and norms and the norm activation model to investigate environmentally conscious behaviour. This study findings are limited to a survey which involved an Australian sample. Practical implications—This study provides valuable implications for environmentally conscious businesses and policy makers. This study stresses the importance of highlighting climate change beliefs to enhance increased environmentally conscious behaviour engagement. It is, however, strongly recommended to focus on personal environmental norms as well because they play a stronger role in environmentally conscious behaviour engagement than climate change beliefs and strengthen climate change beliefs. This is important especially when conversations on the adverse effects of climate change and strategies to combat them are clouded by some political debates.

The Paths to Connectedness: A Review of the Antecedents of Connectedness to Nature

Although many philosophers and environmental psychologists agree that progress toward a more ecologically conscious society depends upon individuals developing a sense of connectedness to nature, such agreement is of limited use if we do not understand how connectedness forms. The purpose of this review is to delineate the state of the psychological literature concerning the antecedents of connectedness to nature. The literature review is organized into three main sections: (1) situational contexts that influence connectedness; (2) individual difference predictors, such as demographic group membership, personality, or beliefs; and (3) internal psychological states that may explain psychological processes that result in connectedness. Major critiques of the extant literature and future directions are presented in a discussion following the body of the review. The primary implications highlighted by the review are a greater need for theories delineating the formation of connectedness, a greater focus on process, and increased differentiation between similar antecedents of connectedness.

Effects of Emotions and Ethics on Pro-Environmental Behavior of University Employees: A Model Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

Over the last few years, many activities conducted by university employees have contributed greatly to the global rise of greenhouse gases responsible for the warming of the planet. This phenomenon can be attributed primarily to altering lifestyle, consumption, and portability patterns. Even though there is a significant applicability, understanding the factors determining the pro-environmental behavior (PEB) of university employees is lacking. Thus, this study extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain PEB among university employees. Ten hypotheses were suggested regarding the relations between the initial TPB constructs, environmental ethics, and emotional intelligence. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data from a randomly selected sample of 302 university employees from six Malaysian higher educational institutions listed in the UI Green Matrix 2016. The findings revealed that environmental ethics significantly affected attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms. Furthermore, pro-environmental behavioral intentions (PEIs) were directly influenced by attitude and perceived behavioral control, while emotional intelligence mediated the relationship between PEIs and PEB. Moving forward, this study will provide new insights into the literature of university employees’ PEB using an expanded TPB model.

The potential synergistic effects between psychedelic administration and nature contact for the improvement of mental health

Therapeutic psychedelic administration and contact with nature have been associated with the same psychological mechanisms: decreased rumination and negative affect, enhanced psychological connectedness and mindfulness-related capacities, and heightened states of awe and transcendent experiences, all processes linked to improvements in mental health amongst clinical and healthy populations. Nature-based settings can have inherently psychologically soothing properties which may complement all stages of psychedelic therapy (mainly preparation and integration) whilst potentiating increases in nature relatedness, with associated psychological benefits. Maximising enhancement of nature relatedness through therapeutic psychedelic administration may constitute an independent and complementary pathway towards improvements in mental health that can be elicited by psychedelics.

Trait Appreciation of Beauty: A Story of Love, Transcendence, and Inquiry

This review of the trait of appreciation of beauty (AoB) draws from the literature in personality psychology, philosophy, religion, neuroscience, neuro-aesthetics, evolutionary psychology, and the psychology of morality. We demonstrate that AoB can be mapped onto a definition of appreciation that includes perceptual, cognitive, emotional, trait, virtue, and valuing elements. A classic component of defining beauty, unity-in-diversity, is described based on the works of a variety of major philosophers. We next describe that there are at least four channels of appreciation of beauty: natural beauty, artistic beauty, moral beauty, and beautiful ideas. Examining the neuro-aesthetics research indicates that many networks of the brain are involved in mental acts of appreciating beauty, but the medial orbital front cortex (mOFC) is implicated across all four channels of beauty. We then explain how the trait of AoB is a member of three different families of traits: traits of love, traits of transcendence, and traits of inquiry. Next we briefly explain why Kant may have been more correct than Hegel concerning beauty and the good soul. We then present evidence that women may appreciate beauty somewhat more than men. Data from many cultures and nations consistently indicate this. After that we claim AoB leads to individual and collective flourishing. We examine and summarize studies that indicate appreciation of natural beauty leads to a wide variety of positive outcomes; we focus on the importance of open-mindedness that accompanies engagement with artistic beauty; and we summarize studies regarding the moral emotion of elevation and appreciation of moral beauty. Suggested future directions for research are embedded in each subsection of the paper.