Affective Benefits of Nature Contact: The Role of Rumination

Frontiers in Psychology

Gretchen C. Daily¹  Ashish Mehta²  James J. Gross²  Gerald Young³  Gregory N. Bratman⁴  Ihno Lee Babineaux⁵ 

[1] Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States;Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States;The Natural Capital Project, Stanford, CA, United States;Stanford Woods Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States;Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States;Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States;School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States;Senior Behavioral Scientist, Uplight, Boulder, CO, United States;

关键词: nature contact;    emotion regulation;    affect;    structural equation analysis;    rumination;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.643866

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Mounting evidence shows that nature contact is associated with affective benefits. However, the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects are not well understood. In this study, we examined whether more time spent in nature was associated with higher levels of positive affect in general, and lower levels of negative affect and rumination in general. We also conducted a cross-sectional mediation analysis to examine whether rumination mediated the association of nature contact with affect. Participants (N = 617) reported their average time spent in nature each week, as well as their general levels of positive and negative affect, and the degree to which they typically engaged in rumination in daily life. We then used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. Our results support the hypothesis that nature contact is associated with general levels of affect, and that rumination mediates this association for negative affect, and marginally mediates this association for positive affect.

【 授权许可】

CC BY