Authors
Jia Wei Zhang, Paul K Piff, Ravi Iyer, Spassena Koleva, Dacher Keltner
Publication date
2014/3/1
Journal
Journal of environmental psychology
Volume
37
Pages
61-72
Publisher
Academic Press
Description
Past studies have documented interpersonal benefits of natural environments. Across four studies, we tested the hypothesis that exposure to more beautiful nature, relative to less beautiful nature, increases prosocial behavior. Study 1 yielded correlational evidence indicating that participants prone to perceiving natural beauty reported greater prosocial tendencies, as measured by agreeableness, perspective taking, and empathy. In Studies 2 and 3, exposure to more beautiful images of nature (versus less beautiful images of nature) led participants to be more generous and trusting. In Study 4, exposure to more beautiful (versus less beautiful) plants in the laboratory room led participants to exhibit increased helping behavior. Across studies, we provide evidence that positive emotions and tendencies to perceive natural beauty mediate and moderate the association between beauty and prosociality. The current …
Total citations
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Scholar articles
JW Zhang, PK Piff, R Iyer, S Koleva, D Keltner - Journal of environmental psychology, 2014