Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Nature Based Solutions; Nature; Green Spaces; Social Orientation; Prosocial Behavior; COVID-19
Abstract :
[en] An emergent body of evidence shows the impact of exposure to nature on prosocial attitudes and interpersonal relationships. This study examines relationships between green space (GS) attendance, perceived beauty of the space, perceived crowdedness of the space, and prosocial behavior. A cross-sectional study with snowball sampling was conducted in April 2020. All participants (N = 1206) responded to an online survey that included a French version of the social value orientation slider measure (used as a proxy for prosocial behavior), questions about the lockdown, and their GS attendance. After retaining only participants who had visited a GS at least once since the beginning of their lockdown (N = 610), multiple linear regressions showed that social orientation scores demonstrated associations with the interaction between GS attendance and perceived crowdedness of the GS, suggesting that attending low crowded GS is linked to increasing prosociality. These results provide insight into the roles that GS can have during a health crisis and suggest some practical implications.
Research Center/Unit :
PsyNCog - Psychologie et Neuroscience Cognitives - ULiège
Disciplines :
Social & behavioral sciences, psychology: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Noël, Tania ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Psychologie et Neuroscience Cognitives (PsyNCog)
Dardenne, Benoît ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Psychologie et Neuroscience Cognitives (PsyNCog)
Language :
English
Title :
Relationships between Green Space Attendance, Perceived Crowdedness, Perceived Beauty and Prosocial Behavior in Time of Health Crisis
Publication date :
01 June 2022
Journal title :
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
ISSN :
1660-4601
eISSN :
1661-7827
Publisher :
MDPI AG
Volume :
19
Issue :
11
Pages :
6778
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Development Goals :
10. Reduced inequalities 11. Sustainable cities and communities
This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the initiative “Urban Innovative Actions” (Grant number UIA04-217). The cofounders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
Timeline: WHO’s COVID-19 Response. Available online: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/interactive-timeline (accessed on 8 November 2020).
Morand, S. Emerging diseases, livestock expansion and biodiversity loss are positively related at global scale. Biol. Conserv. 2020, 248, 108707. [CrossRef]
Platto, S.; Zhou, J.; Wang, Y.; Wang, H.; Carafoli, E. Biodiversity loss and COVID-19 pandemic: The role of bats in the origin and the spreading of the disease. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2020, 538, 2–13. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Tollefson, J. Why deforestation and extinctions make pandemics more likely. Nature 2020, 584, 175–176. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Frumkin, H. COVID-19, the Built Environment, and Health. Environ. Health Perspect. 2021, 129, 075001. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Lin, B.; Meyers, J.; Barnett, G. Understanding the potential loss and inequities of green space distribution with urban densification. Urban For. Urban Green. 2015, 14, 952–958. [CrossRef]
Astell-Burt, T.; Feng, X.; Mavoa, S.; Badland, H.M.; Giles-Corti, B. Do low-income neighbourhoods have the least green space? A cross-sectional study of Australia’s most populous cities. BMC Public Health 2014, 14, 1–11. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Nesbitt, L.; Meitner, M.J.; Girling, C.; Sheppard, S.R.; Lu, Y. Who has access to urban vegetation? A spatial analysis of distributional green equity in 10 US cities. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2019, 181, 51–79. [CrossRef]
Goldy, S.P.; Piff, P.K. Toward a social ecology of prosociality: Why, when, and where nature enhances social connection. Curr. Opin. Psychol. 2020, 32, 27–31. [CrossRef]
Toderian, B. Op-Ed: Dear Gov. Cuomo, The Problem Is Crowding, Not ‘Density’! Available online: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/04/06/op-ed-dear-gov-cuomo-the-problem-is-crowding-not-density (accessed on 10 March 2022).
Whittle, R.S.; Diaz-Artiles, A. An ecological study of socioeconomic predictors in detection of COVID-19 cases across neighborhoods in New York City. BMC Med. 2020, 18, 271. [CrossRef]
Samuelsson, K.; Barthel, S.; Colding, J.; Macassa, G.; Giusti, M. Urban nature as a source of resilience during social distancing amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Open Sci. Framew. 2020. Available online: https://osf.io/3wx5a (accessed on 10 March 2022).
Geary, R.S.; Wheeler, B.; Lovell, R.; Jepson, R.; Hunter, R.; Rodgers, S. A call to action: Improving urban green spaces to reduce health inequalities exacerbated by COVID-19. Prev. Med. 2021, 145, 106425. [CrossRef]
Braubach, M.; Egorov, A.; Mudu, P.; Wolf, T.; Thompson, C.W.; Martuzzi, M. Effects of urban green space on environmental health, equity and resilience. In Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas; Kabisch, N., Korn, H., Stadler, J., Bonn, A., Eds.; Open Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2017; pp. 187–205.
Ettman, C.K.; Abdalla, S.M.; Cohen, G.H.; Sampson, L.; Vivier, P.M.; Galea, S. Prevalence of Depression Symptoms in US Adults Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Netw. Open 2020, 3, e2019686. [CrossRef]
Heo, S.; Desai, M.U.; Lowe, S.R.; Bell, M.L. Impact of Changed Use of Greenspace during COVID-19 Pandemic on Depression and Anxiety. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 5842. [CrossRef]
Kemp, A.H.; Arias, J.A.; Fisher, Z. Social Ties, Health and Wellbeing: A Literature Review and Model. In Neuroscience and Social Science the Missing Link; Ibáñez, A., Sedeño, L., García, A.M., Eds.; Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2017; pp. 397–427.
Quoidbach, J.; Taquet, M.; Desseilles, M.; de Montjoye, Y.-A.; Gross, J.J. Happiness and Social Behavior. Psychol. Sci. 2019, 30, 1111–1122. [CrossRef]
Putnam, R.D.; Leonardi, R.; Nanetti, R.Y. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy; Princeton University Press: Pinceton, CA, USA, 2001.
Aldrich, D.P. Black Wave; University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, USA, 2019. [CrossRef]
Ye, M.; Aldrich, D.P. Substitute or complement? How social capital, age and socioeconomic status interacted to impact mortality in Japan’s 3/11 tsunami. SSM Popul. Health 2019, 7, 100403. [CrossRef]
Buckland, J.; Rahman, M. Community-based Disaster Management During the 1997 Red River Flood in Canada. Disasters 1999, 23, 174–191. [CrossRef]
Granovetter, M.S. The Strength of Weak Ties. Am. J. Sociol. 1973, 78, 1360–1380. [CrossRef]
Beggs, J.J.; Haines, V.A.; Hurlbert, J.S. Situational Contingencies Surrounding the Receipt of Informal Support. Soc. Forces 1996, 75, 201–222. [CrossRef]
Nakagawa, Y.; Shaw, R. Social Capital: A Missing Link to Disaster Recovery. Int. J. Mass Emerg. Disasters 2004, 22, 5–34.
Helliwell, J.F.; Aknin, L.B.; Shiplett, H.; Huang, H.; Wang, S. Social Capital and Prosocial Behaviour as Sources of Well-Being. NBER Work. Pap. Ser. 2017. Available online: http://www.nber.org/papers/w23761 (accessed on 10 March 2022).
Guéguen, N.; Stefan, J. “Green Altruism”: Short Immersion in Natural Green Environments and Helping Behavior. Environ. Behav. 2016, 48, 324–342. [CrossRef]
Neill, C.; Gerard, J.; Arbuthnott, K.D. Nature contact and mood benefits: Contact duration and mood type. J. Posit. Psychol. 2019, 14, 756–767. [CrossRef]
Weinstein, N.; Przybylski, A.K.; Ryan, R.M. Can Nature Make Us More Caring? Effects of Immersion in Nature on Intrinsic Aspirations and Generosity. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2009, 35, 1315–1329. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Piff, P.K.; Dietze, P.; Feinberg, M.; Stancato, D.M.; Keltner, D. Awe, the small self, and prosocial behavior. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 2015, 108, 883. [CrossRef]
Zhang, J.W.; Howell, R.T.; Iyer, R. Engagement with natural beauty moderates the positive relation between connectedness with nature and psychological well-being. J. Environ. Psychol. 2014, 38, 55–63. [CrossRef]
Zhang, J.W.; Piff, P.K.; Iyer, R.; Koleva, S.; Keltner, D. An occasion for unselfing: Beautiful nature leads to prosociality. J. Environ. Psychol. 2014, 37, 61–72. [CrossRef]
Shiota, M.N.; Keltner, D.; Mossman, A. The nature of awe: Elicitors, appraisals, and effects on self-concept. Cogn. Emot. 2007, 21, 944–963. [CrossRef]
Jennings, V.; Bamkole, O. The Relationship between Social Cohesion and Urban Green Space: An Avenue for Health Promotion. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 452. [CrossRef]
Hartig, T.; Mitchell, R.; de Vries, S.; Frumkin, H. Nature and Health. Annu. Rev. Public Health 2014, 35, 207–228. [CrossRef]
Cattell, V.; Dines, N.; Gesler, W.; Curtis, S. Mingling, observing, and lingering: Everyday public spaces and their implications for well-being and social relations. Health Place 2008, 14, 544–561. [CrossRef]
Kabisch, N.; Qureshi, S.; Haase, D. Human–Environment interactions in urban green spaces—A systematic review of contempo-rary issues and prospects for future research. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 2015, 50, 25–34. [CrossRef]
Elands, B.H.M.; Peters, K.B.M.; de Vries, S. Promoting social cohesion and social capital increasing wellbeing. In Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health: The Role of Nature in Improving the Health of a Population; Van den Bosch, M., Bird, W., Eds.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2018; pp. 116–121. [CrossRef]
Ugolini, F.; Massetti, L.; Calaza-Martínez, P.; Cariñanos, P.; Dobbs, C.; Ostoić, S.K.; Marin, A.M.; Pearlmutter, D.; Saaroni, H.; Šaulienė, I.; et al. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use and perceptions of urban green space: An international exploratory study. Urban For. Urban Green. 2020, 56, 126888. [CrossRef]
Kamas, L.; Preston, A. Empathy, gender, and prosocial behavior. J. Behav. Exp. Econ. 2021, 92, 101654. [CrossRef]
Erdfelder, E.; Faul, F.; Buchner, A. GPOWER: A general power analysis program. Behav. Res. Methods Instrum. Comput. 1996, 28, 1–11. [CrossRef]
Balliet, D.; Parks, C.; Joireman, J. Social Value Orientation and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas: A Meta-Analysis. Group Processes Intergroup Relat. 2009, 12, 533–547. [CrossRef]
Pletzer, J.L.; Balliet, D.; Joireman, J.; Kuhlman, D.M.; Voelpel, S.C.; Van Lange, P.A. Social Value Orientation, Expectations, and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas: A Meta–Analysis. Eur. J. Pers. 2018, 32, 62–83. [CrossRef]
Thielmann, I.; Spadaro, G.; Balliet, D. Personality and prosocial behavior: A theoretical framework and meta-analysis. Psychol. Bull. 2020, 146, 30–90. [CrossRef]
Van Lange, P.A.M.; Bekkers, R.; Schuyt, T.N.M.; Vugt, M.V. From Games to Giving: Social Value Orientation Predicts Donations to Noble Causes. Basic Appl. Soc. Psychol. 2007, 29, 375–384. [CrossRef]
McClintock, C.G.; Allison, S.T. Social Value Orientation and Helping Behavior. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 1989, 19, 353–362. [CrossRef]
Van Lange, P.A.M.; Schippers, M.; Balliet, D. Who volunteers in psychology experiments? An empirical review of prosocial motivation in volunteering. Personal. Individ. Differ. 2011, 51, 279–284. [CrossRef]
Wu, J.; Balliet, D.; Tybur, J.M.; Arai, S.; Van Lange, P.A.M.; Yamagishi, T. Life history strategy and human cooperation in economic games. Evol. Hum. Behav. 2017, 38, 496–505. [CrossRef]
Murphy, R.O.; Ackermann, K.A.; Handgraaf, M. Measuring Social Value Orientation. SSRN J. 2011, 6, 771–781. [CrossRef]
Murphy, R.O.; Ackermann, K.A. Social Value Orientation: Theoretical and Measurement Issues in the Study of Social Preferences. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 2014, 18, 13–41. [CrossRef]
Zelenski, J.M.; Dopko, R.L.; Capaldi, C.A. Cooperation is in our nature: Nature exposure may promote cooperative and environmentally sustainable behavior. J. Environ. Psychol. 2015, 42, 24–31. [CrossRef]
Bekkers, R. Stability, Reliability and Validity of Social Value Orientation. 2004. Available online: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.536.2069&rep=rep1&type=pdf (accessed on 10 March 2022).
The Jamovi Project. Jamovi, Version 2.5.5. Available online: https://www.jamovi.org (accessed on 9 June 2021).
Yzerbyt, V.Y.; Muller, D.; Judd, C.M. Adjusting researchers’ approach to adjustment: On the use of covariates when testing interactions. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 2004, 40, 424–431. [CrossRef]
Tveit, M.S.; Ode Sang, Å.; Hagerhall, C.M. Scenic Beauty: Visual Landscape Assessment and Human Landscape Perception. In Environmental Psychology: An Introduction, 2nd ed.; Steg, L., de Groot, J.I., Eds.; Wiley-Blackwell: London, UK, 2018; pp. 35–54.
De la Barrera, F.; Reyes-Paecke, S.; Harris, J.; Bascuñán, D.; Farías, J.M. People’s perception influences on the use of green spaces in socio-economically differentiated neighborhoods. Urban For. Urban Green. 2016, 20, 254–264. [CrossRef]
Riechers, M.; Strack, M.; Barkmann, J.; Tscharntke, T. Cultural Ecosystem Services Provided by Urban Green Change along an Urban-Periurban Gradient. Sustainability 2019, 11, 645. [CrossRef]
Schipperijn, J.; Ekholm, O.; Stigsdotter, U.K.; Toftager, M.; Bentsen, P.; Kamper-Jørgensen, F.; Randrup, T.B. Factors influencing the use of green space: Results from a Danish national representative survey. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2010, 95, 130–137. [CrossRef]
Bertram, C.; Rehdanz, K. Preferences for cultural urban ecosystem services: Comparing attitudes, perception, and use. Ecosyst. Serv. 2015, 12, 187–199. [CrossRef]
Dong, X. Good mood, good deed? The role of affect on residents’ helping behavior. Travel Tour. Res. Assoc. Adv. Tour. Res. Glob. 2021, 64. Available online: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/ttra/2021/research_papers/64 (accessed on 10 March 2022).
Snippe, E.; Jeronimus, B.F.; aan het Rot, M.; Bos, E.H.; de Jonge, P.; Wichers, M. The Reciprocity of Prosocial Behavior and Positive Affect in Daily Life. J. Personal. 2018, 86, 139–146. [CrossRef]
Turner, J.C.; Hogg, M.A.; Oakes, P.J.; Reicher, S.D.; Wetherell, M.S. Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory; Basil Blackwell: Cambridge, MA, USA, 1987.
Turner, J.C.; Oakes, P.J.; Haslam, S.A.; McGarty, C. Self and Collective: Cognition and Social Context. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 1994, 20, 454–463. [CrossRef]
Novelli, D.; Drury, J.; Reicher, S.; Stott, C. Crowdedness Mediates the Effect of Social Identification on Positive Emotion in a Crowd: A Survey of Two Crowd Events. PLoS ONE 2013, 8, 78983. [CrossRef]
Nielson, M.G.; Padilla-Walker, L.; Holmes, E.K. How do men and women help? Validation of a multidimensional measure of prosocial behavior. J. Adolesc. 2017, 56, 91–106. [CrossRef]
Padilla-Walker, L.M.; Christensen, K.J. Empathy and Self-Regulation as Mediators Between Parenting and Adolescents’ Prosocial Behavior Toward Strangers, Friends, and Family. J. Res. Adolesc. 2011, 21, 545–551. [CrossRef]
Darin-Mattsson, A.; Fors, S.; Kåreholt, I. Different indicators of socioeconomic status and their relative importance as determinants of health in old age. Int. J. Equity Health 2017, 16, 173. [CrossRef]
Wüstemann, H.; Kalisch, D.; Kolbe, J. Towards Anational Indicator for Urban Green Spaceprovision and Environmental Inequalities in Germany; Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: Berlin, Germany, 2016.
Hoffimann, E.; Barros, H.; Ribeiro, A.I. Socioeconomic Inequalities in Green Space Quality and Accessibility—Evidence from a Southern European City. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 916. [CrossRef]
Rigolon, A.; Browning, M.H.; Lee, K.; Shin, S. Access to Urban Green Space in Cities of the Global South: A Systematic Literature Review. Urban Sci. 2018, 2, 67. [CrossRef]
Park, Y.; Guldmann, J.-M. Understanding disparities in community green accessibility under alternative green measures: A metropolitan-wide analysis of Columbus. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2020, 200, 103806. [CrossRef]
Funder, D.C.; Ozer, D.J. Evaluating Effect Size in Psychological Research: Sense and Nonsense. Adv. Methods Pract. Psychol. Sci. 2019, 2, 156–168. [CrossRef]
Götz, F.M.; Gosling, S.D.; Rentfrow, P.J. Small Effects: The Indispensable Foundation for a Cumulative Psychological Science. Perspect Psychol. Sci. 2022, 17, 205–215. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Abelson, R.P. A variance explanation paradox: When a little is a lot. Psychol. Bull. 1985, 97, 129. [CrossRef]
Ritchie, H.; Roser, M. Urbanization. Our World in Data 1. Available online: https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization (accessed on 25 February 2022).
Matz, S.; Gladstone, J.; Stillwell, D. In a world of big data, small effects can still matter: A reply to Boyce, Daly, Hounkpatin, and Wood. Psychol. Sci. 2017, 28, 547–550. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Bauer, M.; Blattman, C.; Chytilová, J.; Henrich, J.; Miguel, E.; Mitts, T. Can War Foster Cooperation? J. Econ. Perspect. 2016, 30, 249–274. [CrossRef]
Solnit, R. A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster; Penguin: London, UK, 2010.
Zaki, J. Catastrophe Compassion: Understanding and Extending Prosociality Under Crisis. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2020, 24, 587–589. [CrossRef]
Palomino, J.C.; Rodríguez, J.G.; Sebastian, R. Wage inequality and poverty effects of lockdown and social distancing in Europe. Eur. Econ. Rev. 2020, 129, 103564. [CrossRef]
Spennemann, D.H.R. Exercising under COVID-2x: Conceptualizing Future Green Spaces in Australia’s Neighborhoods. Urban Sci. 2021, 5, 93. [CrossRef]
Samuelsson, K.; Colding, J.; Barthel, S. Urban resilience at eye level: Spatial analysis of empirically defined experiential landscapes. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2019, 187, 70–80. [CrossRef]
Colding, J.; Gren, Å.; Barthel, S. The Incremental Demise of Urban Green Spaces. Land 2020, 9, 162. [CrossRef]
Mitchell, R.J.; Popham, F. Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: An observational population study. Lancet 2008, 372, 1655–1660. [CrossRef]
Mitchell, R.J.; Richardson, E.A.; Shortt, N.K.; Pearce, J.R. Neighborhood Environments and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Mental Well-Being. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2015, 49, 80–84. [CrossRef]
Rigolon, A.; Browning, M.H.E.M.; McAnirlin, O.; Yoon, H. Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 2563. [CrossRef]
Mell, I.; Whitten, M. Access to Nature in a Post Covid-19 World: Opportunities for Green Infrastructure Financing, Distribution and Equitability in Urban Planning. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 1527. [CrossRef]
