The Human–Nature Relationship and Its Impact on Health: A Critical Review
Within the past four decades, research has been increasingly drawn toward understanding whether there is a link between the changing human–nature relationship and its impact on people’s health. However, to examine whether there is a link requires research of its breadth and underlying mechanisms from an interdisciplinary approach. This article begins by reviewing the debates concerning the human–nature relationship, which are then critiqued and redefined from an interdisciplinary perspective. The concept and chronological history of “health” is then explored, based on the World Health Organization’s definition. Combining these concepts, the human–nature relationship and its impact on human’s health are then explored through a developing conceptual model. It is argued that using an interdisciplinary perspective can facilitate a deeper understanding of the complexities involved for attaining optimal health at the human–environmental interface.
Introduction
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 (19).
This article reviews the interconnectivities between the human–nature relationship and human health. It begins by reviewing the each of their concepts and methodological approaches. These concepts will be converged to identify areas of overlap as well as existing research on the potential health impacts in relation to humanity’s degree of relationship to nature and lifestyle choices. From this, a developing conceptual model is proposed, to be inclusive of the human-centered perspective of health, viewing animals and the wider environment within the context of their relationship to humans. The model combines theoretical concepts and methodological approaches from those research fields examined in this review, to facilitate a deeper understanding of the intricacies involved for improving human health.
Defining the Human–Nature Relationship
It 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).
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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 (47).
The underpinning of the Biophilia hypothesis centers on humanity’s source of attachment to nature beyond those on the surface particulars. Instead, it reflects thousands of years of evolutionary experience closely bonding with other living organisms (44). Such process is mediated by the rules of prepared and counter-prepared learning that shape our cognitive and emotional apparatus; evolving by natural selection via a cultural context (48). This innate value for nature is suggested to be reflected in the choices we make, experiences expressed as well as our longstanding actions to maintain our connection to nature (49). Nevertheless, many have gone on to recognize the research field’s need for revision and further evidentiary support through empirical analysis (50). Similarly, as other researchers have argued, these innate values should be viewed in complementary to other drivers and affinities from different sources that can also be acquired (e.g., technology and urban landscapes). This is because at the commonest level, as Orr (51) explains, humanity can learn to love what becomes familiar, a notion also reflected in the Topophilia (“love of place”) hypothesis (52).
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Social Economics
Social economics is a metadiscipline in which economics is embedded in social, political, and cultural behaviors. It examines institutions, choice behavior, rationality as well as values in relation to markets (53). Owing to its diverse structure, the human–nature relationship has been explored in various contexts. These include the reflections of society’s values and identities in natural landscapes (54), condition of placelessness (55), and humanity’s growing ecosynchronous tendencies (56) as well as how the relationship has evolved with historical context (57–59). While the dynamics of human and nature coupled systems has become a growing interdisciplinary field of research, past work within social economics has remained more theoretical than empirically based (59).
The connection between the start of industrialized societies and the dynamically evolving human–nature relationship has been discussed by many (60), revealing a host of economic–nature conflicts. One example includes those metaphorically outlined in the frequently cited article “The Tragedy of the Commons.” In this, it argues that the four laws of ecology are counter intuitive with the four laws of capitalism (5, 6). Based on this perspective, the human–nature relationship is simplified to one of exchange value, where adverse costs to the environment are rarely factored into the equation (6). However, this is not to say that humanity’s increasing specialization and complexity in most contemporary societies are distinct from nature but still depend on nature to exert (61).
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Central to the tenets outlined in Tragedy of the Commons is the idea of “gradually diminishing freedom” where a population can increasingly exceed the limits of its resources if avoidance measures are not implemented (e.g., privatization or publicly owned property with rights of entry) (5, 62). Yet, such avoidance measures can be seen to reflect emerging arguments in the field of environmental justice, which researches the inequalities at the intersection between environmental quality, accessibility, and social hierarchies (63). These arguments derive from the growing evidence that suggests the human–nature relationship is seemingly disproportionate to those vulnerable groups in society (e.g., lack of green spaces and poor air quality), something public health researchers believe to be a contributing factor to health inequities (64). As such, conflicts between both private and collective interests remain a challenge for future social economic development (65). This was explored more fully in Ostrom’s (66) research on managing a common pool of resources.
Environmentalism
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.
Power can be characterized as “A person, institution, physical event or idea … because it has an impact on society: It affects what people do, think and how they live” (76). Though frequently debated in other disciplines, in the context of the human–nature relationship, the concept of “power” can be exerted by both nature and humanity. In regards to nature’s power against humanity, it has the ability to sustain society as well as emphasize its conditional awareness, environmental constraints, and fragilities (77). In contrast, humanity’s power against nature can take the form of institutions, artifacts, practices, procedures, and techniques (70). In the context of this review, it focuses on nature’s powers against humanity.
It has been argued that human power over nature has altered and weakened in dominance (75) since the emergence of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring in 1962, and later concepts of Gaia (78), Deep Ecology (40), and Sustainable Development (79). Instead, humanity’s power toward nature has become one of a moral sense of protectionism or the safeguarding of the environment (80). This conservative behavior (e.g., natural defenses, habitat management, and ecological restoration) can be termed “Urgent Biophilia” (81) and is the conscious urge to express affinity for nature pending an environmental disaster. As Radkau (69) suggests, with warnings of climatic change, biodiversity loss, and depletions in natural resources, this poses a threat to humanity. As such, this will eventually generate a turning point where human power is overwhelmed by the power of nature, bringing nature and power into a sustainable balance. Nonetheless, as many also highlight, humanity’s responses to environmental disasters can directly impinge on an array of multi-causalities of intervening variables (e.g., resource depletion and social economics) and the complexity of outcomes (82).
An Interdisciplinary Perspective of the Human–Nature Relationship
Through exploring the key concepts found in evolutionary biology, social economics, evolutionary psychology, and environmentalism, this has enabled a broader understanding of the various ways humans are connected to the natural environment. Each should not be viewed as separate entities, but rather that they share commonalities in terms of mutual or conjoint information and active research areas where similarities can occur (see Table 1 below). For example, there is a clear connection between social economics, evolutionary psychology, and biology in areas of health, lifestyle, and biophilic nature (40, 53, 81) as well as between social economics and the environment in regards to balancing relationships of power (5, 75). Similarly, economic–nature conflicts can occur between disciplines evolutionary psychology and social economics in relation to people’s affiliation for nature and industrial growth.
Table 1
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TABLE 1. A SUMMARIZED OVERVIEW OF HUMAN–NATURE RELATIONSHIP CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THOSE RESEARCH FIELDS EXPLORED.
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Our understanding of the human–nature relationship and its underlying mechanisms could be further understood from an interdisciplinary perspective. In essence, the human–nature relationship can be understood through the Biophilia concept of humanity’s affiliation with nature as well as related concepts and measures to describe human connectedness to nature (49–53). Equally, Orr’s (51) perspective that at the commonest level humans can acquire other affinities to or learn to love different elements than those of the natural world (e.g., technology and urban environments) adds to this understanding. Further, while humanity, and indeed nature also, has not entirely escaped change, it cannot be assumed that all have been shaped by evolutionary mechanisms (42, 44). Some have been shaped by what Radkau (75) terms as the power shift between humans and nature, which is evolving, as it has and will keep on doing. As such, the human–nature relationship goes beyond the extent to which an individual believes or feels they are part of nature. It can also be understood as, and inclusive of, our adaptive synergy with nature as well as our longstanding actions and experiences that connect us to nature. Over time, as research and scientific knowledge progresses, it is anticipated that this definition of the human–nature relationship will adapt, featuring the addition of other emerging research fields and avenues.
Defining Health
Conceptualizing “health” has often generated complex debates across different disciplines owing to its multidimensional and dynamic nature (83). It is, however, beyond the scope of this paper to review the many ways these concepts have been previously explored (84–86). Instead, “health” is reviewed and viewed more generally through the lens of the World Health Organization 1948 definition.
The World Health Organization defined “health” simply as the physical, social, and mental well-being of humanity, in which “health” was widened beyond those biomedical aspects (e.g., disease and illness) to encompass the socioeconomic and psychological domains (85). This classical definition advocated health’s shift toward a holistic perspective, with emphasis on more positive attributes (84, 87) and was not simply “the mere absence of disease and infirmity” [(83), p. 1]. It also reflected people’s ambitious outlook after the Second World War, when health and peace were seen as inseparable (83, 84). Since then, this shift has seen a major growth in the last 30 years, primarily in areas of positive health and psychology (88–92).
Despite its broad perspective of human health, the definition has also encountered criticism in relation to its description and its overall reflectance of modern society. For instance, the use of the term “completeness” when describing optimal health has been regarded by many as impractical. Instead, Huber et al (83) propose health to be the “ability to adapt and to self-manage” and invite the continuation of further discussions and proposals of this definition to be characterized as well as measured through its three interrelated dimensions; physical, mental, and social health. Similarly, others have highlighted the need to distinguish health from happiness (84) or its inability to fully reflect modern transformations in knowledge and development (e.g., technology, medicine, genomics as well as physical and social environments) (86). As such, there have been calls to reconceptualize this definition, to ensure further clarity and relevance for our adaptive societies (83).
Broadly, health has been measured through two theoretical approaches; subjective and objective (85). The subjective approach is based on individual’s perceived physical, emotional, and cognitive experiences or functioning. By contrast, the objective approach measures those variables, which are existing and measurable external to an individual’s internal experience such as living conditions or human needs that enable people to lead a good life (e.g., health markers, education, environment, occupational attainment, and civic involvement) (85). Together, these approaches provide a more comprehensive picture of a person’s health status, which are applicable across its three health components (physical, mental, and social), as described below.
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First, physical health is defined as a healthy organism capable of maintaining physiological fitness through protective or adaptive responses during changing circumstances (83). While it centers on health-related behaviors and fitness (including lifestyle and dietary choices), physiological fitness is considered one of the most important health markers thought to be an integral measure of most bodily functions involved in the performance of daily physical exercise (93). These can be measured through various means, with examples including questionnaires, behavioral observations, motion sensors, and physiological markers (e.g., heart rate) (94).
