Is it any wonder that most happiness idioms are associated with nature? Happy as a pig in muck, happy as a clam, happy camper.
A UBC researcher says there鈥檚 truth to the idea that spending time outdoors is a direct line to happiness. In fact, Holli-Anne Passmore says if people simply take time to notice the nature around them, it will increase their general happiness and well-being.
Passmore, a PhD psychology student at UBC鈥檚 Okanagan campus, recently published research examining the connection between taking a moment to look at something from the natural environment and personal well-being. The study involved a two-week 鈥榠ntervention鈥� where participants were asked to document how nature they encountered in their daily routine made them feel. They took a photo of the item that caught their attention and jotted down a short note about their feelings in response to it.
Other participants tracked their reactions to human-made objects, took a photo and jotted down their feelings, while a third group did neither. Passmore explains that examples of nature could be anything not human built: a house plant, a dandelion growing in a crack in a sidewalk, birds, or sun through a window.
鈥淭his wasn鈥檛 about spending hours outdoors or going for long walks in the wilderness,鈥� Passmore says. 鈥淭his is about the tree at a bus stop in the middle of a city and the positive effect that one tree can have on people.鈥�
Passmore, who studies wellness, says she was 鈥榦verwhelmed鈥� not only by the response of her 395 study participants鈥攎ore than 2,500 photos and descriptions of emotions were submitted鈥攂ut also by the impact that simply noticing emotional responses to nearby nature had on personal well-being. And their prosocial orientation鈥攁 willingness to share resources and the value they placed on community.
There is scientific documentation that people who live in greenspaces generally seem to be happier, and may live longer than those who don鈥檛. Passmore is taking that research further. This study is one of a series by a research team in UBC Okanagan鈥檚 psychology department known as the 鈥淗appy Team鈥� which is providing evidence that nature can increase happiness.
鈥淭he difference in participants鈥� well-being鈥攖heir happiness, sense of elevation, and their level of connectedness to other people, not just nature鈥攚as significantly higher than participants in the group noticing how human-built objects made them feel and the control group.鈥�
Passmore鈥檚 research, recently published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
