Are outdoorsy people just plain nicer?

The previous blog about losing gear on the trail and honesty led me to ponder this question: "Are hikers, backpackers, climbers, and other outdoorsy folks just plain nicer?" I'd like to believe so, but that's a rather self-serving thought process.

Feeling more altruistic and connected to community?

Most of us know that being in nature reduces stress levels. I wondered if backcountry people, in addition to being less stressed, also were nicer, kinder, more positive individuals.

According to the August 2009 article "Immersion In Nature Makes Us Nicer" on Miller-McCune.com a series of studies suggests immersion in nature “brings individuals closer to others, whereas human-made environments orient goals toward more selfish or self-interested ends."

Here are some of the reported findings from "Can Nature Make Us More Caring? Effects of Immersion in Nature on Intrinsic Aspirations and Generosity" by Netta Weinstein, Andrew K. Przybylski, and Richard M. Ryan, posted on the website of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in 2009:

• Participants shown slides depicting natural landscapes placed a higher value on community/connectedness values and a lower value on self-oriented values than those who saw slides of urban settings. “As individuals were more immersed in the slides presenting natural settings, they experienced greater increases in intrinsic [community/connectedness] aspirations.”
• In a funds distribution task, “as individuals were more immersed in nature slides, they were more likely to make generous decisions,” the researchers write. “As they were more immersed in non-nature slides, they were less generous and greedier.”
• And, “participants immersed in a lab setting with plants present reported higher valuing of intrinsic aspirations” than those in a setting devoid of living green growth.

So, why would nature, even in a lab setting, make us nicer? According to the researchers, “Nature affords individuals the chance to follow their interests and reduces pressures, fears, introjects and social expectations.”

So, are outdoorsy folks, those who enjoy nature, just plain nicer? Of course they are. But you already knew that, right?

References: "Immersion In Nature Makes Us Nicer" and "Can Nature Make Us More Caring? Effects of Immersion in Nature on Intrinsic Aspirations and Generosity"