Joye and teammates probed how spending time in nature influences interpersonal behavior and their findings support planning that enables in-nature experiences. They found that “State-level recreational nature engagement is a positive predictor of prosociality and – to a lesser degree – a negative predictor of antisociality.” The team determined that “the extent to which a population recreates in or enjoys the outdoors––explains regional differences in prosocial patterns of other-regard and kindness. To test this, we employed a combination of big data and archival records to capture state-level variations in recreational engagement with nature and prosociality. We find that, after adjusting for potential confounders, recreational nature engagement – as measured by indicators of nature recreation and the popularity of search terms of nature-based recreational activities – can explain various regional indicators of prosociality and antisociality.” The researchers defined prosociality as for example, volunteering and being empathetic.
Yannick Joye, Danny Brosnahan, and Paul Piff. 2022. “The Geography of Goodwill: Recreational Engagement with Nature Predicts Prosociality Across US States.” Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, vol. 3, 100067, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100067