Nature extends future: The mediating roles of affect and subjective vitality

Abstract

Past research has shown that nature experiences can slow down the perception of temporal duration and shift time perspective from the past to the present and future. Little is known, however, about how nature would influence people’s perception of future time left or future time perspective (FTP). In this research, I proposed that nature could expand people’s FTP. Across four studies, I found consistent support for this hypothesis. In Study 1, a correlational analysis revealed that connectedness to nature was positively associated with FTP in both American and Chinese samples. In Studies 2 and 3, participants who viewed 14 photos of natural scenes reported more expansive FTP than those who watched 14 photos of urban scenes. Moreover, both positive (vs. negative) affect (Study 2) and subjective vitality (Study 3) mediated the effect of nature on FTP. In Study 4, I tested the link between nature and FTP at the macro level by analyzing large-scale data on 1686 U.S. counties (N = 772, 956), demonstrating that people living in greener counties believed they would live longer and perceived themselves as having a longer future. Together, these findings indicate that nature can broaden people’s subjective sense of time availability.