Do people who feel connected to nature do more to protect it? A meta-analysis

By C. M. Mackay, Michael T. Schmitt. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2019

438 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Using meta-analysis, we examined whether there is evidence consistent with the idea that a subjective sense of “connection to nature” promotes pro-environmental behaviour (PEB; Mayer & Frantz, 2004; Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy, 2009). Analysis of correlational data ( k  = 75) provided compelling evidence for a strong and robust association between nature connection and PEB ( r  = 0.37). Nature connection was positively associated with PEB across different operationalizations of nature connection, across different PEB measures (i.e., behavioural intentions, self-reports of behaviour, and observed behaviour), and across various sample and demographic characteristics. We found no evidence of publication bias in correlational studies. For experimental manipulations of nature connection ( k  = 17), however, there was clear evidence of publication bias in favour of studies reporting positive effects. We addressed this bias by including unpublished studies in the meta-analysis, and found a small, significant causal effect of nature connection on PEB ( d  = 0.21, r  = 0.10). We conclude that more experimental data with better quality manipulations of nature connection are needed. Nonetheless, the strong and robust association between nature connection and PEB, as well as evidence that nature connection causes PEB, suggest that nature connection is a promising avenue for promoting PEB.

Subfields: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b89788ef511a50c371cebb6977f0d9193e7d771d

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Citations in the corpus

Applying the pathways to nature connectedness at a societal scale: a leverage points perspective (2020, background): “Moving from human wellbeing to nature’s wellbeing, a recent systematic review has shown a further causal relationship between nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviours, that is positive inactions generally associated with lower energy and resource use (Mackay and Schmitt 2019).”
The role of climate change risk perception, response efficacy, and psychological adaptation in pro-environmental behavior: A two nation study (2020, background): “Past research (e.g., Devine-Wright, 2013; Gosling & Williams, 2010; Mayer & Frantz, 2004; see also; Mackay & Schmitt, 2019) has shown positive associations between connectedness to nature and each of environmental concern and PEBs.”
Cross-Cultural Validation of A Revised Environmental Identity Scale (2021, background): “EID scores have been found to correlate with both environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior [25,35].”
The green care code: How nature connectedness and simple activities help explain pro‐nature conservation behaviours (2020, background): “Consistent evidence has also emerged linking nature connectedness to greater pro-environmental behaviour (see meta-analyses by Mackay & Schmitt, 2019; Whitburn, Linklater, & Abrahamse, 2019), particularly if that attachment to nature was cultivated in childhood through spending free time in nature…”