Many of us are familiar with the term Mother Nature or Mother Earth, but is it just a phrase or does it have any other implications? In a series of studies conducted to find the correlation between the mind attribution to nature and pro environmental behavior. It was found that people who thought of nature as a human entity with a mind of its own performed better on a Pro-environmental behavior survey.
The mind attribution to nature was calculated by raising questions like: to what extent does nature have a mind/Free will/Consciousness/Intentions of its own? The participants of the study answered the question on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from not at all to very much. On the other hand the Pro-Environmental Behavior was measured by asking participants to describe their frequency or likelihood of performing eco-friendly behavior like recycling newspapers, conserving gasoline by walking or using energy efficient light bulbs on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from never to very often.
The results showed that perceiving nature as a human entity is correlated with pro environmental behavior and “it is actually mind attribution that drives the pro environmental effects” (Tam, 2015). So the next time nature comes up in a conversation, treat it as a fellow human and spread the eco-friendly vibe among your circle.
Reference:
Tam, KP. (2015). Mind Attribution to Nature and Proenvironmental Behavior. Ecopsychology. Retrieved from http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/eco.2014.0054
Shashank Pawar 