Compassion is key: How virtually embodying nature increases connectedness to nature

Abstract

Education for sustainable development and environmental psychology call for more systematic evidence regarding the role of emotions in sustainability-related attitudes, competencies, and behaviour. At the same time, immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) technology is discussed as a promising research approach for achieving this goal. However, research on the emotional processes explaining the high impact of iVR on nature connectedness is still in its infancy. Therefore, we conducted a study to further investigate the role of emotions for nature connectedness induced by virtually embodying a representative of nature (a tree) in iVR. We tested N = 85 students who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a threatening scenario, including a threat in the form of a forest fire at the end of the experience (n = 42), or a non-threatening scenario without the forest fire (n = 43). Emotions (anger, anxiety, sadness, joy and compassion) felt during the experience were assessed retrospectively with an extended version of the PANAS. To capture physical arousal during the iVR experience, participants wore an electrodermal activity (EDA) measurement device during the entire iVR exposure. The tests for mediation effects showed that compassion rather than basic emotions (anger, anxiety, sadness, or joy) explains the development of nature connectedness. Regarding the moderation effects, we found that the impact of virtual body ownership on anger, anxiety, and compassion differed based on the scenario type. Interaction effects showed that the threatening scenario induced stronger negative emotions (anger, anxiety, sadness) and compassion. These results were corroborated by the physiological reaction data of the participants. Based on our findings, we stress that exploring a virtual threat to nature can be perceived as a threat to oneself and can induce strong emotional and physiological reactions. Moreover, our results indicate that compassion is a distinct emotion with distinct effects to other emotions such as anger, anxiety, sadness, or joy. Subsequently, we build a case for focusing on compassion as a crucial factor in building nature connectedness.