Nature Involvement Increases Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being: A Two-Week Experimental Study

Abstract

Abstract

Given experimental evidence of enhancement of well-being as a result of brief exposure to nature, we sought to study the effect of ongoing nature involvement on well-being. Undergraduate participants (N=84) were randomly assigned to either a nature intervention condition or a control condition. Results indicated that, at the end of 2 weeks, net-positive affect and feelings of elevation were significantly higher, and meaning was marginally higher, in the nature intervention condition relative to the control condition. Self-concordant motivation was also higher for the nature condition, suggesting that the nature intervention was perceived as intrinsically pleasant. Levels of trait connectedness to nature did not moderate the impact of the nature intervention on well-being, suggesting that nature involvement is beneficial among a variety of individuals. High levels of nature involvement were voluntarily sustained throughout the 2 weeks of the study. For the most part, participants engaged in simple activities involving nature close to home, indicating that drastic life changes need not be made in order to improve positive functioning and feelings. This research provides important empirical groundwork for future research concerning daily nature involvement as an effective positive psychology intervention. Key Words: Nature—Nature connectedness—Well-being—Elevation—Meaning—Affect.