Shared time in nature increases feelings of social connection amongst university students

Abstract

While the impact of nature on individual psychological outcomes has been widely researched, few studies have investigated the impact of time in nature on social connection across individuals. We conducted a within-subjects experiment to evaluate whether natural environments increase feelings of interpersonal closeness, or social connection. Fifty-two undergraduate students completed search tasks with a social partner in a city park and an office. Self-reported social connection was significantly higher following task completion in the natural environment compared to indoors. Self-reported nature connection was also significantly higher following task completion in the natural environment compared to indoors. These results are consistent with the proposal that shared time in nature increases feelings of social connection as well as nature connection. These findings have important implications for understanding the relations between nature and community building.