The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective

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Fernando Castrillon, Psy.D., earned a masters in sociology from the University of California where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and is a licensed clinical psychologist. He is Associate Professor in the Community Mental Health Department at CIIS and is the founding Director of CIIS’ The Clinic Without Walls, an innovative psychotherapy clinic serving mostly working poor and immigrant communities who would otherwise not have access to mental health services. Xue, F. , S. S. Y. Lau, Yifan Song & Zhonghua Gou, B. Jiang, (2016). Incorporating biophilia into green building rating tools for promoting health and wellbeing In this study, the concept of biophilic design was further investigated and studied, concerning its positive contribution to health and well-being. Based on profound theoretical and analytical studies, the principles of biophilic landscape design patterns were concluded. Furthermore, the efficiency of the concluded patterns was tested in a practical case study in the Egyptian urban context. Sustainable landscape, biophilia, and biophilic design

Kates, R. W. & National Research Council Board on Sustainable Development Our Common Journey: A Transition Toward Sustainability (National Academy Press, Washington DC, 1999). Frumkin, H. (2001). Beyond Toxicity: Human Health and the Natural Environment. Am J Prev Med Volume 20(3):34–240Experimental findings show how impressive nature’s healing powers can be—just a few moments of green can perk up a tired brain. In one example, Australian researchers asked students to engage in a dull, attention-draining task in which they pressed a computer key when certain numbers flashed on a screen. Students who looked out at a flowering green roof for 40 seconds midway through the task made significantly fewer mistakes than students who paused for 40 seconds to gaze at a concrete rooftop (Lee, K.E., et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 42, No. 1, 2015).

Beatley T (2017b) Biophilic cities and healthy societies. Urban Plann 2(4):1–4. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v2i4.1054

Summary

Nature might also make us nicer—to other people as well as to the planet. John Zelenski, PhD, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues showed undergraduates either nature documentaries or videos about architectural landmarks. Then the participants played a fishing game in which they made decisions about how many fish to harvest across multiple seasons. Those who had watched the nature video were more likely to cooperate with other players, and also more likely to make choices that would sustain the fish population ( Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 42, No. 1, 2015). In another experiment, Zelenski and his colleagues found that elementary school children acted more prosocially to classmates and strangers after a field trip to a nature school than they did after a visit to an aviation museum (Dopko, R.L., et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 63, No. 1, 2019). Douglas A. Vakoch is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies as well as Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute. His books cover fields ranging from psychology and ecocriticism to anthropology and space sciences and include Psychology of Space Exploration: Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective (NASA, 2011); On Orbit and Beyond: Psychological Perspectives on Human Spaceflight (Springer, 2012); Ecofeminism and Rhetoric: Critical Perspectives on Sex, Technology, and Discourse (Berghahn, 2011); Feminist Ecocriticism: Environment, Women, and Literature (Lexington, 2012); Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Springer, 2013); Extraterrestrial Altruism: Evolution and Ethics in the Cosmos (Springer, 2013); and Astrobiology, History, and Society: Life Beyond Earth and the Impact of Discovery (Springer, 2013). Dr. Vakoch serves as general editor for Lexington Books’ Ecocritical Theory and Practice Series and for Springer’s Space and Society Series. He also co-edited, with Fernando Castrillon, a special double issue of the peer-reviewed journal ReVision on ecopsychology. Prior to earning a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he received an M.A. in history and philosophy of science from the University of Notre Dame, where he focused on contemporary continental philosophy of psychology. He may be reached at [email protected], telephone (415) 575-6244, Department of Clinical Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA; or at [email protected], telephone (650) 960-4514, Center for SETI Research, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. The Belmont Challenge: A Global, Environmental Research Mission for Sustainability (International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research, 2011); https://www.belmontforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/belmont-challenge-white-paper.pdf Wijesooriya N, Brambilla A (2020) Bridging biophilic design and environmentally sustainable design: a critical review. J Cleaner Production 283:124591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124591 Brondizio, E. S., Ostrom, E. & Young, O. R. Connectivity and the governance of multilevel social-ecological systems: The role of social capital. Annu. Rev. Env. Res. 34, 253–78 (2009).