Spending time in nature has many psychological benefits for people, including stress reduction and improved mood. Using behavioral measures and field study settings, we demonstrate that exposure to nature also leads to prosocial behaviors, such as increasing charitable donations. We show these prosocial effects are explained by an increased sense of self-transcendence, whereby a person feels connected to something greater than oneself or the social groups one belongs to. When self-transcendence is not experienced, such as when people feel separate or distinct from others, these effects are no longer observed. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed.

花时间在大自然中对人们有许多心理好处，包括减轻压力和改善情绪。使用行为测量和实地研究设置，我们证明接触自然也会导致亲社会行为，例如增加慈善捐赠。我们表明，这些亲社会效应可以通过自我超越感的增强来解释，即一个人感到与比自己或自己所属的社会群体更重要的事物有联系。当没有体验到自我超越时，例如当人们感到与他人分离或不同时，就不再观察到这些影响。讨论了研究的理论和实践意义。