Ecopsychology

In the face of rising global concerns regarding emotional distress in the context of rapid urbanization, the need for efficacious and eco-friendly initiatives to address these problems is becoming increasingly relevant. Within the human–nature relationship framework, hands-on participation in tree planting entails activities that enable active interaction with nature. This approach could result in potential mental health benefits while offering a sustainable solution to current environmental challenges. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential effects of hands-on participation in a tree-planting activity on emotional distress parameters in a sample of healthy adults. A pretest–posttest study was conducted, involving 154 participants who engaged in planting containerized saplings through a tree-planting program. The assessment instruments used included the Profile of Mood States for evaluating mood states and the Visual Analog Scale for registering stress and anxiety. Various environmental, activity-related, and personal factors were recorded and analyzed as potential predictive factors of the pretest–posttest outcomes, including connectedness to nature, perceived instorativeness, and physical effort, along with the time spent sleeping, walking, and exercising. The results demonstrated significant reductions in tension, depressed mood, anger, fatigue, stress, and anxiety, as well as an increase in vigor. The predictive factors accounted for 10% of the variability in pretest–posttest changes in depressed mood, 13% in anger, 18% in fatigue, and 22% in vigor. In conclusion, the observed positive changes in mood states, stress, and anxiety following hands-on participation in tree-planting activities could be applied from a preventive perspective on potential emotional distress experienced in urban contexts.

While studies have highlighted the psychological benefits of interacting with birds, research exploring, which personality traits influence interest in birdwatching remains limited. This study examined the impact of personality on birdwatching engagement among 85 participants (56.5% male, mean age = 33.0 years) in Isfahan, Iran. Employing the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, we assessed personality traits and measured participants’ immediate and sustained interest in birdwatching, as well as self-identification as a birdwatcher, following a structured intervention comprising three educational sessions and a full-day birdwatching trip. Openness to Experience emerged as the strongest predictor of both immediate (M = 3.45, SD = 1.06) and sustained interest (M = 3.25, SD = 1.07) over 6 months, significantly predicted self-identification as a birdwatcher (β = 0.49). Agreeableness and Conscientiousness also had positive effects, whereas Neuroticism negatively impacted it. These findings indicate how personality profiling can enhance the design of nature-based activities, maximizing engagement and participation.

According to the biophilia hypothesis, humans have a fundamental tendency to affiliate with nature. If this hypothesis is true, large majorities of people should express a high level of nature-friendliness (a tendency to affiliate with nature), and this level should have low variability across cultures. We tested this proposition using the interculturally applicable Human and Nature (HaN) scale. We compare the outcomes from 12 previously published studies that applied the HaN scale on four continents and show that a high level of nature-friendliness was indeed detected in all countries. We also demonstrate that the cross-cultural variability of the nature-friendliness levels was as small as their within-culture variability. Jointly then, these 12 studies offer strong support for the biophilia hypothesis. We share implications that are valuable for policymaking as well as further theoretical development of human–nature relationship research, particularly around relational values with nature and ecological virtue ethics.

Integrative Eco Art Therapy (IEAT) is a humanistic and eco-centric approach to restoring and cultivating healthy attachments between humans and the natural world. IEAT employs the frameworks of art therapy, eco art therapy, integrative trauma-informed psychology, and the sciences, to provide individually centered healing that is informed by the principles of Interbeing, reciprocity, and cooperation. This article presents both a theoretical framework for IEAT and an in-depth case study of IEAT with a young adult with complex trauma and maladaptive daydreaming disorder. A distinct link was observed between the creation of art in or with Nature within an IEAT framework, and the improvement of this individual’s executive functioning, integration of traumatic experience, and establishment of more secure attachments. Through integrative didactic engagement, experientially gained insight, artmaking in which Nature serves as metaphor, material, or setting, IEAT can restore and repair some of the fractured attachments humans have to themselves, other people, and the natural world.

This study explores the integration of ecotherapy into professional identities of counselors who completed an ecotherapy course. Ecotherapy, an approach that emphasizes the connection between humans and the natural world, has been shown to have positive effects on mental health. Despite growing evidence, little research has been conducted on its long-term impact on counselors’ professional development. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring how ecotherapy concepts are assimilated into practice and identity and how educational experiences in ecotherapy shape professional growth. Through Consensual Qualitative Research methods, findings reveal the influence of ecotherapy on counseling approaches and personal connections with nature. Findings highlighted the impact of ecotherapy as a worldview on professional identity and implications for self-care. Key Words: Ecotherapy—Counselor identity development—Experiential counselor education—Self-care—Clinical application—Counseling theory

Gratitude to nature promotes sustainability and is linked to both anthropomorphism of nature and ecospirituality. Thus, these factors may mediate the effects of nature gratitude on pro-environmental behavioral intentions. The effects of nature gratitude may also be strongest when nature is explicitly anthropomorphized or when people consider a natural place of personal importance. Therefore, this study examined the effect of writing gratitude letters to Mother Nature and natural places on pro-environmental intentions, anthropomorphism, and ecospirituality. We hypothesized that participants randomly assigned to write gratitude letters to Mother Nature, in contrast to participants who write gratitude letters to a natural place or write about their morning routine (control condition), will express increased pro-environmental intent due to increased anthropomorphism and ecospirituality. In addition, we hypothesized that writing gratitude letters to a natural place would lead to more pro-environmental outcomes compared with the control condition. Writing gratitude letters to Mother Nature led to greater ecospirituality compared with a control letter (although not compared with the natural place letter, contrary to our hypotheses). Writing gratitude letters to a natural place led to both greater ecospirituality and anthropomorphism compared with a control letter. There was no overall effect of experimental condition on pro-environmental intentions and mixed evidence for an indirect effect of the natural place letter via anthropomorphism and ecospirituality. Path analyses supported that nature gratitude serially affects ecospirituality by first increasing anthropomorphism. Future research should continue to investigate how emotions such as gratitude can be leveraged to motivate action that protects our planet. Key Words: Gratitude—Mother Nature—Pro-environmental intent—Anthropomorphism—Ecospirituality

Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is a biomedical condition associated with exposure to man-made radio-frequency electromagnetic fields. Common sources are devices like mobile phones, wireless networks, base stations, computers, TVs, and more. Identifying individuals at risk of developing EHS is important. Those with heightened sensory processing sensitivity (SPS; the ability to perceive, process, and react to environmental stimuli, approximately 25% to 30% of the population) are of special interest. SPS could also be associated with connectedness to nature (CNS) and EHS. In the current gender-matched cross-sectional study (n = 450; 225 men and 225 women) we assessed gender differences in environmental sensitivity assessed as SPS, EHS, and CNS. Women had higher general EHS prevalence than men (13.3% vs. 5.3%), higher mean values on perceived sensitivity for 5 out of 9 categories of electromagnetic equipment (computers, electrical appliances, fluorescent lighting, mobile phones, and television) and they had higher scores on the three EHS Scales EHS General, EHS Scale, and EHS Index, in addition to higher SPS and CNS scores. The gender differences vanished when adjusting for SPS in the multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) analyses, suggesting that the differences in these scales were associated with SPS. The statistical equation modeling (SEM) results showed a significant positive direct effect of SPS on CNS, and a significant indirect effect mediated by EHS. The present study provides the first empirical evidence that highly sensitive individuals are capable of perceiving electromagnetic radiation. The results indicate that perceived EHS and CNS are driven by SPS and not by gender. Key Words: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity—Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields—Connectedness to nature—Environmental sensitivity—Sensory processing sensitivity—Highly sensitive person scale— Ecology—Environmental psychology

The aim of this study is to examine interrelationships between three dimensions of human and nature restoration: psychological, ethical, and environmental restoration, as well as exploring the link between those types of restoration, appreciation of beauty, and sustainable behavior (SB). Four-hundred and sixty-five adult residents in diverse Mexican cities participated in the study. Participants were asked to self-report their perceived psychological restoration, the (also perceived) restoration of ethics in their community, the degree of perceived environmental restoration in their surroundings, as well as their actions oriented toward sustainability and their level of appreciation of beauty. The data were processed through a structural equation model, which seems to reveal that an integral restoration—comprising psychological, ethical, and environmental dimensions—can foster SBs and is significantly influenced by individuals’ appreciation of beauty in nature. In turn, these types of restoration are deeply interconnected and jointly enhance one’s motivation toward environmentally friendly, pro-social, and self-care behaviors, collectively described as SBs. Moreover, significant correlations between aesthetical appreciation and the adoption of ethical and conservationist behaviors were demonstrated, suggesting a link between emotional connection elicited by beauty appreciation and the motivation to protect the environment.