Time psychology is existential: Attitudes toward death, nature, and time are intertwined
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that a propensity to engage with nature's beauty (EWNB) is strongly correlated with overall nature connectedness (NC), and that both EWNB and NC are strongly correlated with overall wellbeing. Strong evidence has also demonstrated that NC is predictive of (some say an essential antecedent of) pro-environmental behaviour. At the same time, reflecting on nature can remind people of their own “animality” and therefore their own mortality; thus, it is possible that some people may also feel an innate aversion to (connecting with) nature. Such aversion may be particularly dependent on an individual's time perspectives and attitudes towards death. In the current study, we explored the nomological web of relations among EWNB, NC, time perspectives and attitudes towards death. We collected cross-sectional data in Canada, Japan, and Russia ( N = 1356), assessing these constructs and variables. Across samples, results evidenced positive correlations of: NC with death acceptance; all past, present, and future time perspectives (mere exception: consideration of immediate consequences) with NC and engagement with beauty; and a positive correlation of eudaimonic present perspective with consideration of long-term future consequences. We discuss these patterns of findings and explore their potentials to support both destructive and constructive human-nature relationships.
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,170
OpenAlex ID: W7141737079