TY - JOUR
T1 - Testing the unsolved problems hypothesis
T2 - The evolutionary life issues-mitigating function of nature exposure and its relationship with human well-being
AU - O, Jiaqing
AU - Kavanagh, Phillip S.
AU - Brüne, Martin
AU - Esposito, Gianluca
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University's NAP-SUG scheme [NAP SUG2015 (GE)] that was awarded to the last author. The sponsor has no involvement in the study design; collection/analysis/interpretation of data; writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. The authors would like to thank Joe Miele of Mturk Data, for his assistance with the data collection and Dr. Norman Li, for his advice on the feasibility of an earlier version of this project.
Funding Information:
This research was funded by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University’s NAP-SUG scheme [NAP SUG2015 (GE)] that was awarded to the last author. The sponsor has no involvement in the study design; collection/analysis/interpretation of data; writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier GmbH
PY - 2019/8/31
Y1 - 2019/8/31
N2 - Theories regarding the benefits of spending time in natural settings – a growingly crucial topic in a progressively urbanized world – have been developed with varying success, and none could comprehensively illuminate the evolutionary underpinnings of this phenomenon. This paper posits that the alleviation of unsolved life problems by means of unique personal (imaginativeness) and environmental (nature exposure) factors and their synthesis, so as to free up opportunities for other evolutionarily-essential tasks in humans, is posited to be pivotal – the unsolved problems hypothesis. Six hundred participants completed a study testing these assumptions on Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Results highlight the relevance of unsolved existential issues in relation to environmental (but not personal or integrative) influences on the majority of well-being indicators (e.g., extent of psychotic symptoms, annual income and procreative outcomes). Findings could initiate new lines of enquiry to unravel the evolutionary mechanism underlying a phenomenon that has huge implications for human functioning and well-being.
AB - Theories regarding the benefits of spending time in natural settings – a growingly crucial topic in a progressively urbanized world – have been developed with varying success, and none could comprehensively illuminate the evolutionary underpinnings of this phenomenon. This paper posits that the alleviation of unsolved life problems by means of unique personal (imaginativeness) and environmental (nature exposure) factors and their synthesis, so as to free up opportunities for other evolutionarily-essential tasks in humans, is posited to be pivotal – the unsolved problems hypothesis. Six hundred participants completed a study testing these assumptions on Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Results highlight the relevance of unsolved existential issues in relation to environmental (but not personal or integrative) influences on the majority of well-being indicators (e.g., extent of psychotic symptoms, annual income and procreative outcomes). Findings could initiate new lines of enquiry to unravel the evolutionary mechanism underlying a phenomenon that has huge implications for human functioning and well-being.
KW - contact with nature
KW - evolutionary mismatch
KW - unsolved life issues
KW - psychotic symptoms
KW - annual income
KW - reproductive outcomes
KW - Evolutionary mismatch
KW - Psychotic symptoms
KW - Annual income
KW - Unsolved life issues
KW - Contact with nature
KW - Reproductive outcomes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073641815&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126396
DO - 10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126396
M3 - Article
SN - 1618-8667
VL - 44
JO - Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
JF - Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
M1 - 126396
ER -