Recent studies of wellbeing and psychology prove that flowers have immediate and long-term effects on emotional reactions, mood, social behaviors and even memory for both males and females. Women who received flowers reported more positive moods 3 days later.
From west to east, all over the world, the belief that connecting with the natural world improves wellbeing repeatedly appears throughout recorded human history. Despite the durability of this belief over time and across cultures, numerous trends suggest that many are ignoring this time-tested wisdom, and are disconnected, both physically and psychologically, from nature.
The evidence of this is for example that children are spending less time outdoors, opting for large amounts of screen time instead. Emblematic of the modern popularity of electronic media over nature-based recreation, children seem to be better at identifying Pokémon than common wildlife species. Simultaneously, the necessary behavior change required to address and mitigate environmental issues such as climate change remains largely unactualized, and the health of the natural environment continues to deteriorate due to human (in)action. In sum, many people are not as connected to nature as they could be and this has implications, not only for the wellbeing of the environment, but also for the wellbeing of individuals. In fact, there is growing evidence that supports the age-old belief that connecting with nature promotes flourishing (i.e., enhanced hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing) and positive mental health. Without regular contact with nature, people may be missing out on some of these psychological benefits.
Why is nature so deeply connected with our wellbeing?
A theory affirms that floral attraction emerged as an evolutionary strategy, in other words an evolutionary niche could be related to emotional rewards. Depriving humans of non-species emotional support may be as detrimental to human survival and fitness as depriving humans of any other resource. The ubiquity of flower use across culture and history and the lack of easy substitutes for the many uses of flowers suggest that there may be something other than this simple association. Flowers may influence social-emotional behavior more directly or may prime such behavior. That is, flowering plants may have adapted to an emotional niche.
The attraction to flowering plants may be related to positive emotion. Positive emotion makes people appear to be more attractive, even sexually attractive and arguably, more likely to be approached socially. Both short and long-term expressions of positive emotion are related to secondary effects of positive mood. Flowers, have a strong effect on emotional state and influence secondary cognitive and social behaviors. The researchers found that flowers, and flowers donation, improve memory related tasks in seniors, increases workplace productivity, decreases stress and anxiety, increases compassion for others and reduces stress.
Furthermore, numerous studies have shown that brief contact with nature promotes positive emotional states. For instance, relatively brief walks in natural, versus urban/indoor, environments can lead to significant boosts in mood, even for those diagnosed with mood disorders.
Moving forward in nature
Some questions need to be deepened. What kind of nature will work best? What is the ideal dose? How long do the effects last? Overall, evidence suggests that connecting with nature is a promising path to flourishing in life and given flowers are the symbol of this.
References
[1] An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers; Jeannette Haviland-Jones Holly, Hale Rosario, Patricia Wilson, Terry R. McGuire. Evolutionary Psychology; human-nature.com/ep – 2005. 3: 104-132.
[2] Capaldi, C. A., Passmore, H.-A., Nisbet, E. K., Zelenski, J. M., & Dopko, R. L. (2015). Flourishing in nature: A review of the benefits of connecting with nature and its application as a wellbeing intervention. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(4), 1-16. doi:10.5502/ijw.v5i4.449
