The Connection Between Nature and Happiness
2025.02.10
Research on the connection between human happiness and the natural world isn’t new. It’s not the easiest thing to measure though, and various studies approach it in different ways.
A meta-analysis sought to summarize the research findings, and reports that on a variety of happiness measures and connectedness-to-nature measures, there is a positive association.1
That is, people who are more connected to nature tend to be happier than people who aren’t as connected to nature.
Context
For most of human history, as a species we were deeply connected to the natural environment. Evolutionarily speaking, it is only recently that we started spending our time in artificial spaces, with conditioned air, heavily processed foods, and screens. So, the “attraction, identification, and need to connect to nature is thought to remain in our modern psychology”.
Further, the “gap in nature exposure between our early evolutionary environments and modern life is clear, and appears to be growing”.
Some speculate that this disconnection “may be having a detrimental impact on our emotional well-being as exposure to nature is associated with increased happiness”.
Nature Connectedness
The human-nature relationship has been conceptualized in a variety of ways in the research, but all have a common thread of an underlying construct of one’s subjective connection to nature.
Nature connectedness exists on a continuum, each person having their own subjective connection to nature. Researchers have found that an individual’s own nature connectedness tends to be relatively stable across time and situations.
“Consistent personality, attitudinal, behavioral, and well-being differences are found between those who strongly identify with and feel connected to the natural world compared to those who do not. Individuals higher in nature connectedness tend to be more conscientious, extraverted, agreeable, and open”.
Nature and Well-Being
Researchers have identified reasons nature connectedness would be positively associated with subjective well-being.
Feeling connected in general is a consistent predictor of someone’s well-being. So having a specific connection with nature may also be a predictor of well-being.
Individuals who are higher in nature connectedness may seek out more opportunities to reap the psychological benefits associated with nature exposure, or, from a biophilia perspective, satisfy the need to affiliate with other living things.
But being connected to nature might also reduce well-being for individuals who have incorporated nature into their sense of self. As the environment is harmed from human activity, these individuals’ well-being is negatively impacted.
Meta-Analysis Findings
The meta-analysis included studies that looked at least one measure of nature connectedness and of happiness. The total pooled sample size was n=8523.
Connectedness to nature was positively associated with higher levels of happiness.
When broken down into different ways of measuring happiness/well-being, three constructs had positive relationships with connectedness to nature (in order of magnitude):
- vitality,
- positive affect, and
- life satisfaction.
The findings did not differ when broken down by different demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, age).
The researchers posit that “[n]ature’s restorative effects might explain why vitality has the strongest relationship with nature connectedness”.
Validity of Findings
The magnitude of the effect of nature on happiness is similar to other variables that have a positive relationship with happiness, such as education, income, education, religion, marital status, volunteering, etc.
The researchers do remind us that correlation does not equal causation and “higher nature connectedness may cause increased happiness, higher happiness may cause increased nature connectedness, or a third variable might be leading to changes in both variables”.
Next Actions
Interestingly, the researchers note that despite people’s connectedness to nature, and expressed preferences for valuing nature, they also tend to “underestimate the hedonic benefits that being in nature will bring them”.
So, this is your gentle nudge to take some intentional action to experience the benefits of nature ASAP.
What will you do TODAY to connect to nature, even for 5 minutes?
And if you:
- are looking for practical ways to infuse wisdom from the natural world into your leadership practices,
- are curious about the concept of seasonal leadership, or
- would like to feel confident bringing your love of nature into your authentic leadership style,
1 Source: Capaldi, C.A., R.L. Dopko, and J.M. Zelenski. (2014) The relationship between nature connectedness and happiness: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology. 5:92737. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00976
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