Ralf Hansmann

Health Benefits of Nature Experience: Psychological, Social and Cultural Processes

In this chapter we consider how experiences of nature can affect human health and well-being. We first address the matter of ‘what has been’; that is, we sketch the development of theory and research concerned with health benefits of natural environments, from ancient times to the current situation. This shows the current research to be a recent expression of a number of long-running, intertwined, social and cultural processes. We then discuss ‘where we are now’; that is, we overview current theories and related research concerning processes through which nature experience might provide health benefits. These processes concern environmental preferences, psychological restoration, and learning and personal development. Finally, we consider ‘where we are going’; that is, we consider some additional directions for research and we identify some issues that research will have to address in the foreseeable future.

Enhancing environmental awareness: Ecological and economic effects of food consumption

The authors developed SIMULME, an Internet-based simulation game of the environmental and economic consequences of food consumption, to improve environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals. The game was first applied with 215 pupils divided into 12 classes. Six classes were taught the consequences of food consumption using the learning game (experimental condition) and 6 using a standard lecture (control condition). Positive changes in environmental attitudes concerning nutrition behavior were more marked in the experimental than in the control condition. An additional experiment tested the game’s effects on subsequent buying behavior. After playing the game (experimental) or not (control), participants entered the nutrition section of the online shop of the Swiss retailer Coop with the possibility of winning a purchase worth CHF 40. The consumption pattern of those who played SIMULME was ecologically more positive than that of the control participants. Aspects of game validity and game design are discussed with respect to the effectiveness of games for environmental education.

A two-step informational strategy for reducing littering behavior in a cinema

A field experiment investigated the effects of a two-step informational strategy to reduce littering in a cinema. Step 1 consisted of ambiguous information and aimed at inducing high cognitive motivation for a central processing of the subsequent information. Step 2 resolved the ambiguity and presented the antilittering information. In the experimental condition, the two-step antilittering information was given before the movie show, whereas in the control condition, no manipulation was included. Twenty-one shows with 4,329 visitors were analyzed. The informational strategy of the experimental condition (11 shows) resulted in a significant reduction (28.3%) in the weight of litter per person as compared to the control condition (10 shows). Thus, contrary to a previous conclusion of Horsley, ambiguous signs can be effectively used to reduce littering. Considering previous research, it is argued that the fit between communication strategy, the internal norms of the recipients, and the resulting motivation of the recipients is crucial for the design of an effective anti- littering campaign.

Shifting students’ to experts’ complex systems knowledge

This paper includes three analyses concerning: expert support in the selection of impact variables for scientific models relevant to environmental planning, the quality of students’ individual estimates of corresponding impacts before and after a group discussion, and the accuracy of artificially‐aggregated judgments of independent groups. Participants were students of environmental sciences at ETH Zurich. The first analysis revealed that during participation in an environmental case study, students’ individual estimates of impacts of variables which have been suggested by experts increased, as compared to the estimates of impacts of additional variables, which have been selected by the students. The remaining analyses consider group discussions on the strength of particular environmental impacts. The quality of the estimates was analyzed referring to expert estimates of the impacts.

Informative intervention to improve normative functioning and output of groups

Formal probability models of group decision making imply that the normative influence of large opinion factions tends to have a negative impact on the quality of decisions in difficult tasks and a positive impact in easy tasks that many people solve correctly. Consequently, an informative intervention (INFO) was developed that advises group members to evaluate task difficulty and to react correspondingly to normative majority or plurality influence. In the study, groups of 5 persons had to solve 2 types of intellective tasks: knowledge questions and logic problems. Compared to control groups, group members in the INFO condition were less overconfident, and achieved more correct group decisions.

Public attitudes in relation to risk and novelty of future energy options

Energy options for the future are investigated in relation to attitudinal dimensions to obtain insights important for policy making and risk communication. Using a questionnaire, the study derives four pertinent attitude-linked factors, namely: 1) technology-oriented, 2) society-oriented, 3) social-economically oriented, and 4) nature-oriented inclinations. Another part of the same questionnaire assesses judgements of environmental and societal hazards, as well as the ingenuity of novel technologies, and the overall support for future energy supply options. Significant relationships between the four inclination factors and the ratings in these items emerged. As observed by positive or negative judgements of the ingenuity of given technologies, the technology- and society-oriented inclinations corresponded to a positive attitude towards novelty, whereas the social-economically oriented and nature-oriented inclinations partially tallied with a negative attitude towards novelty. Except for the nature-orientated inclination, all inclinations corresponded to a positive attitude towards a future supply option with mixed energy technologies including nuclear energy. Instead, the nature-oriented inclination corresponded positively with the support of a renewables-only option, and in particular supported solar energy. It also conformed to significantly higher ratings of future vulnerabilities and environmental risks in general. The society-oriented inclination also matched with high ratings of the future socio-economic vulnerabilities but rather opposed the high ratings of future socio-environmental risks. This inclination also opposed the low ratings of negative environmental impacts from the energy technologies photovoltaics and biomass. It appeared that a stronger orientation towards society tends to balance some of the high and low average dread ratings without strongly affecting the attitude towards novelty. The technology-oriented inclination clearly paralleled high risk ratings of climate change and population growth whereas the other risk and vulnerability items corresponded to low ratings. The social-economic inclination showed no significant correspondence to these risk issues. This inclination however, exposed a negative judgement of long-term technology issues. The observed ratings did not support a presumption that higher dread ratings are generally associated with negative attitudes towards novelty. On the opposite, a social-economic orientation had a more conservative attitude towards novelty while having rather insignificant systematic influences on dread ratings. Only the orientation towards nature consistently showed a conservative, negative attitude towards novelty, and a high dread rating attitude. The results imply that the rating behaviour is influenced by the inclinations of the participants. The four inclinations are thus helpful to predict perceived dread and novelty as well as the support for future energy options. Their consideration could contribute to the improvement of risk communication, and help to clarify how to inform on new benefits or hazards affecting risk perception.

Unconferencing as method to initiate organisational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss the potential of available event formats for facilitating the initiation of organizational change processes. It presents unconferencing, a relatively new event format, which seems to provide unique opportunities for this purpose. It reports and analyzes the case of a large Swiss university which initiated its pro‐sustainability transformation by organizing an unconference.Design/methodology/approach – Researchers studied the effects of unconferencing and the mechanisms, which brought them about in a case study. In the empirical setting of a large Swiss university, a qualitative study triangulating participatory observation, narrative and problem‐centered interviews, participant survey and documentary analysis was carried out. Data were collected and analyzed at different points in time.Findings – Empirical findings suggest that unconferencing is an appropriate event format for facilitating the initiation of the pro‐sustainability organizational ...

Urban Consumers’ Attitudes Towards Non-wood Forest Products and Services in Switzerland and an Assessment of Their Market Potential

To obtain empirical data on future market potential, a consumer survey about supply, demand and consumption of non-wood forest products and services (NWFP&S) was conducted in six cities in different cantons of Switzerland. A total of 897 persons–about 150 per city–were interviewed through arbitrary selection in which women and youths were overrepresented in comparision to the Swiss population. A high consumer acceptance of forest products and particularly forest services among the Swiss urban population was observed. Preferences in purchasing honey, berries, mushrooms and roots among other NWFP were reported. The quality of the products and their environmental friendliness ranked highest in the attitudes of potential consumers who prefer to buy NWFP at market stands, in retail traders’ shops and in drugstores. The most popular forest activities among the respondents are recreation and various kinds of sports activities followed by the gathering of NWFP. As far as the consumers’ wishes and aspirations are concerned, sports, camping and adventure rank high apart from the desire to acquire environmental knowledge about the forest flora and fauna. NWFP&S are highly estimated in Switzerland and have a considerable market potential and, if well marketed, could add substantially to the income of forest enterprises.

Momentum Effects in Discussions on Intellective Tasks: Comparing Informed and Non-Informed Groups

A probabilistic model of opinion change (PCD model, Crott, Werner, & Hoffmann, 1996) was applied to analyze the opinion formation process in five-person group discussions concerning intellective tasks. Control groups performed conventional face-to-face discussions, whereas an informational intervention (INFO) was applied in the experimental condition. Analyses performed in line with the PCD model examined the attraction of the correct answer, the size of the subgroups favoring each answer alternative, and a dynamic factor accounting for the possibility that, immediately subsequent to an individual’s opinion change towards a particular alternative, the probability of additional opinion changes to that alternative is dynamically increased. In both conditions the model variants including the dynamic factor were able to adequately describe opinion formation. A stronger attracting influence of the correct answer was observed in the INFO condition compared to the control condition.

Prozeßanalyse von Gruppenentscheidungen zu Aspekten ökologischer Stadtplanung

Zusammenfassung: Die Studie untersucht auf der Grundlage eines stochastischen Modells (Probabilistic Model of Opinion Change Including Distances; PCD-Modell) den Prozes der Meinungsanderungen in Gruppendiskussionen. 90 Studenten/innen der Umweltnaturwissenschaften hatten die Aufgabe, im Rahmen einer Fallstudie zur Neugestaltung eines Stadtteils von Zurich Einflusbeziehungen zwischen relevanten Situationsmerkmalen einzuschatzen. Im Laufe der Diskussion stieg die Hohe der Einschatzungen an und ihre Varianz innerhalb der Gruppen nahm ab. Zur Analyse des Meinungsbildungsprozesses wurden 16 Varianten eines PCD-Grundmodells getestet. Von den beiden postulierten, prozesbestimmenden Faktoren Grose der fur eine Alternative votierenden Untergruppe und durchschnittliche Attraktivitat der Alternativen erwies sich die Untergruppengrose als der bedeutsamere. Daruber hinaus fuhrte die Berucksichtigung der Distanzen zwischen den Alternativen zu einer deutlichen Verbesserung der Beschreibung des Prozesses, da die Meinungs...