Is RVing in nature making you a better person?
One advantage of the RV lifestyle is contact with nature. Compared with our brethren who dwell in stick-built mansions and commute back and forth to work in the city, we have a lot more time viewing, listening to, and breathing in the air of natural surroundings. Now comes a scientific study that says all that may make us better people.
A team of researchers with the University of Rochester say that exposure to nature not only makes us happier and healthier, it also helps us put greater value on personal relationships and community, and tends to make us more generous. To reach this conclusion, the team took 370 participants and exposed them to either nature, or to man-made environments.
Those in the study were encouraged to attend to their environments by noticing colors and textures and imagining sounds and smells. In three of the studies, participants were shown a selection of four images on a 19 inch computer screen for two minutes each. Half of the subject viewed buildings, roads, and other cityscapes; the other half observed landscapes, lakes, and deserts. The urban and nature images were matched for color, complexity, layout, and lighting. In a fourth study, participants were simply assigned at random to work in a lab with or without plants. Participants then answered a questionnaire assessing the importance of four life aspirations: wealth and fame (“to be financially successful” and “to be admired by many people”) and connectedness and community (“to have deep enduring relationships” and “to work toward the betterment of society”).
Across all four studies, people exposed to natural elements rated close relationships and community higher than they had previously. The questionnaire also measured how immersed viewers were in their environments and found that the more deeply engaged subjects were with natural settings, the more they valued community and closeness. By contrast, the more intensely participants focused on artificial elements, the higher they rated wealth and fame.
To test generosity, two of the studies gave participants a $5 prize with the instructions that the money could be kept or given to a second anonymous participant, who would then be given an additional $5. The second participant could choose to return the prize money or keep it. Thus, subjects had nothing to gain if they chose to trust the other participant, and risked losing their money.
The result? People who were in contact with nature were more willing to open their wallets and share. As with aspirations, the higher the immersion in nature, the more likely subjects were to be generous with their winnings.
As RVers, we don’t need to look at a computer screen to see nature. Many of us can simply look out the windows of our rigs, step outside the door, and we’re surrounded by real nature. The findings shouldn’t be surprising–after all, RVers are well-known for their concern for others and an appreciation of a simple lifestyle.
photo: R&T DeMaris
