Presentation Master's thesis - Ailsa McKinnie - Developmental psychology

The biophilia hypothesis considers an attraction to nature to be innate and evolutionarily formed in humans. The contrast of this attraction and our modern lack of nature exposure is theorized to be conducive to poorer mental health. However, recent discussions suggest this attraction to be more trait-like, fostering individual differences rather than universality in humans. In parallel, nature-based interventions have shown inconsistent outcomes for bettering mental health. Thus, the aim of this correlational study is to investigate biophilia’s status as a personality trait, and its relationship with depressive symptoms among other evolutionary mismatches. Additionally, It is hypothesized that biophilia is a personality trait that enhances the frequency of nature exposure and, in turn, lowers depressive symptoms. This would have implications for improving nature-based therapies, public spaces, and wider intervention improvement. Two-hundred and eighty participants completed a survey including a modified version of the Big 5 personality test, a depressive symptom scale and a newly developed evolutionary mismatch questionnaire.