Nature and Prosocial Behavior (02-23-24)
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.