The Human–Nature Relationship and Its Impact on Health

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The Human–Nature Relationship and Its Impact on Health

During the last century, research has been increasingly drawn toward understanding the human–nature relationship (1, 2) and has revealed the many ways humans are linked with the natural environment (3). Some examples of these include humans' preference for scenes dominated by natural elements (4), the sustainability of natural resources (5, 6), and the health benefits associated with engaging with nature (7–9).

Of these examples, the impacts of the human–nature relationship on people's health have grown with interest as evidence for a connection accumulates in research literature (10). Such connection has underpinned a host of theoretical and empirical research in fields, which until now have largely remained as separate entities.

Since the late nineteenth century a number of descriptive models have attempted to encapsulate the dimensions of human and ecosystem health as well as their interrelationships. These include the Environment of Health (11), the Mandala of Health (12), the Wheel of Fundamental Human Needs (13), the Healthy Communities (14), the One Health (15), and the bioecological systems theory (16). Each, however, have not fully incorporated all relevant dimensions, balancing between the biological, social, and spatial perspectives (17, 18). In part this is due to the challenges of the already complex research base in relation to its concept, evidence base, measurement, and strategic framework. Further attention to the complexities of these aspects, interlinkages, processes, and relations is required for a deeper sense of understanding and causal directions to be identified.
t is beyond the scope of this paper to review the various connections at the intersect of humanity and the natural environment. Instead, I summarize key concepts and approaches from those four research fields (Evolutionary Biology, Social Economics, Evolutionary Psychology, and Environmentalism) outlined below, which have paid most attention to studying this research area. I then summarize areas of convergence between these connections in an attempt to describe the human–nature relationship, which will serve as background to this review.

It is anticipated that through drawing on these different fields of knowledge, a deeper level of understanding can be brought to the growing issue of humanity's relationship with nature and its impact on health. This is because examining the human–nature relationship from a single disciplinary perspective could lead to partial findings that neglect other important sources as well as the complexities that exist between interlinkages, causal directions, processes, and relations.

Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary biology is a branch of research that shortly followed Darwin's (20) Theory of Evolution. It concerns the adaptive nature of variation in all animal and plant life, shaped by genetic architecture and developmental processes over time and space (21). Since its emergence over a century ago, the field has made some significant advances in scientific knowledge, but with intense debate still remaining among its central questions, including the rate of evolutionary change, the nature of its transitional processes (e.g., natural selection) (22). This in part owes to the research field's interdisciplinary structure, formulated on the foundations of genetics, molecular biology, phylogeny, systematics, physiology, ecology, and population dynamics, integrating a diverging range of disciplines thus producing a host of challenging endeavors (23, 24). Spanning each of these, human evolution centers on humanity's life history since the lineage split from our ancestral primates and our adaptive synergy with nature.

In the last four decades, evolutionary biology has focused much attention on the cultural–genetic interaction and how these two inherent systems interrelate in relation to lifestyle and dietary choices [Culturgen Evolution (25); Semi-Independent (26); Dual-Inheritance model (27)]. Some of the well-known examples include humans' physiological adaptation to agricultural sustenance (28), the gradual increase in lactose tolerance (29) as well as the susceptibility of allergic diseases (e.g., asthma and hay fever) in relation to decreasing microbial exposure (30).

This coevolutionary perspective between human adaptation and nature has been further conceptualized by Gual and Norgaard (31) as embedding three integrated systems (biophysical, biotic, and cultural). In this, culture is both constrained and promoted by the human genetics via a dynamic two-way interaction. However, bridging the gap between these research fields continues to generate much controversy, particularly as the nature of these evolutionary development processes differs widely (e.g., internal and external factors). This ongoing discussion is fueled by various scholars from multiple disciplines. Some have argued that one cannot assume all evolutionary mechanisms can be carried over into other areas (32, 33), where genomes cannot evolve as quickly to meet modern lifestyle and dietary requirements (34). Conversely, others believe that humans have not entirely escaped the mechanisms of biological evolution in response to our cultural and technological progressions (35).

Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary psychology is a recently developed field of study, which has grown exponentially with interest since the 1980s. It centers on the adaptation of psychological characteristics said to have evolved over time in response to social and ecological circumstances within humanity's ancestral environments (36–38). This reverse engineering approach to understanding the design of the human mind was first kindled by evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin (20) in the last few pages of Origin of Species;

In the distant future ... Psychology will be based on a new foundation, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation [p. 447].

As such, evolutionary psychology is viewed by some to offer a metatheory that dissolves the traditional boundaries held in psychology (e.g., cognitive, social, personality, and development). Within this metatheory, all psychological theories implicitly believed by some to unify under this umbrella (37). However, the application of evolution to the study of psychology has not been without controversial debate in areas relating to cognitive adaptation, testability of hypotheses, and the uniformity of human nature (39).

During the past few decades, the field has presented numerous concepts and measures to describe human connectedness to nature. These include Deep Ecology (40), Extinction of Experience (41), Inclusion of Nature in Self (42), and Connectedness to Nature (43). However, the Biophilia hypothesis (44) remains the most substantially contributed to theory and argues for the instinctive esthetic preference for natural environments and subconscious affiliation for other living organisms. Supportive findings include humans' preference for scenes dominated by natural elements (4), improved cognitive functioning through connectivity with nature (45) as well as instinctive responses to specific natural stimuli or cues (e.g., a common phobia of snakes) (46). More recently, evidence is emerging to suggest that connectivity to nature can generate positive impacts on one's health, increasing with intensity and duration.
Environmentalism can be broadly defined as an ideology or social movement. It focuses on fundamental environmental concerns as well as associated underlying social, political, and economic issues stemming from humanity's interactions affecting the natural environment (67, 68). In this context, the human–nature relationship has been explored through various human-related activities, from natural resource extraction and environmental hazards to habitat management and restoration. Within each of these reflects a common aspect of "power" visible in much of the literature that centers on environmental history (69). Some examples included agricultural engineering (70), the extinction of animals through over hunting (71) as well as the ecological collapse on Easter Island from human overexploitation of natural resources, since disproven (72–74). Yet, in the last decade, the field's presupposed dichotomy between humans and nature in relation to power has been critically challenged by Radkau (75) who regards this perspective as misleading without careful examination. Instead, they propose the relationship to be more closely in synchrony.'

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5114301/