Zhuangzi said, "Co-exist with Heaven and Earth, and united with everything." Human beings live in the world and are part of nature, and the relationship between humans and nature should be harmonious. However, human beings have caused the deterioration of the natural environment, such as climate change. Albert Gore mentioned in his Nobel Peace Prize (1994) lecture, "The earth has a fever."

Anthropomorphism of nature is the process of assigning human appearance or psychological characteristics such as emotions and consciousness to nature. Although studies have shown that anthropomorphism of nature can promote pro-environmental behaviors, the underlying mechanism is unclear. We speculate that connectedness to nature (emotional connection to nature) and environmental guilt (guilt experienced for harming nature) may play a mediating role. In addition, age is a key factor for many psychological traits and pro-environmental behaviors, but few studies have focused on the lifespan changes in pro-environmental behaviors and these related factors.

To address the questions mentioned above, Dr. Pingping Liu and colleagues in Buxin Han's PI group in the CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health conducted a large-scale study. A total of 1,364 valid participants aged 15-76 were recruited to explore the mechanisms why anthropomorphism of nature promotes pro-environmental behavior and age-related differences.

The results found that anthropomorphism of nature can significantly influence pro-environmental behavior through the serial mediating effects of connectedness to nature and environmental guilt (see Figure 1). Anthropomorphism of nature can promote the emotional connection between human and nature, and when the natural environment is threatened or damaged, the emotional connection between human and nature can lead to more environmental guilt, thus promoting people to implement pro-environmental behaviors.

Figure 1 Serial mediation model. Image by Yiping YANG.
Note: Solid arrows indicate significant paths, and dashed arrows indicate nonsignificant paths.

There were similarities and differences in the age-related trajectories of the variables (see Figure 2). Anthropomorphism of nature showed a decreasing trend from mid-late adolescence (15-20 years) to early adulthood (20-35 years) and an increasing trend from middle adulthood (35-55 years) to late adulthood (55+ years); connectedness to nature had a ‘nadir’ in mid-late adolescence and increased in early adulthood; environmental guilt showed a decreasing trend from mid-late adolescence to late adulthood; pro-environmental behavior showed an increasing trend from mid-late adolescence to late adulthood. In conclusion, age significantly affects anthropomorphism of nature, connectedness to nature, environmental guilt and pro-environmental behavior, which deserve further study in the future.

Figure 2. Trajectories of variables from 15 to 76 years of age. Image by Yiping YANG.
Note: PEB = Pro-environmental Behavior; CN = Connectedness to Nature; EG = Environmental Guilt; AN = Anthropomorphism of Nature

This study is the first to reveal the serial mediating role of connectedness to nature and environmental guilt in anthropomorphism of nature to promote pro-environmental behavior, and to explore the trajectories of each variable. Based on the perspective of harmonious coexistence between human and nature, this study provides scientific empirical evidence for promoting pro-environmental behaviors and the formulation of green policies.

This study entitled “The trajectory of anthropomorphism and pro-environmental behavior: A serial mediation model” has been published online on 29 January 2023 in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Scientific Foundation of the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the joint program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

LIU Chen
Institute of Psychology Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing 100101, China.
E-mail: liuc@psych.ac.cn