Enjoying nature and a desire to be in green spaces are inherited traits, according to a study of British twins.
- This study was conducted with so-called “monozygotic” twins which come from the division of a single fertilized egg and so-called “dizygotic” twins which come from two different eggs.
- A person’s appreciation and desire to be in nature is said to be influenced by genes and personal experiences.
“Nature-related experiences are associated with mental and physical health. Despite the importance of understanding what drives individual variation in nature-related experience, the role of genes has been overlooked.” This is what an international group of researchers wrote in work published in the journal PLOS Biology February 3.
To analyze genetic and environmental influences in a person’s appreciation and orientation to nature, scientists recruited 2,306 living identical and fraternal twins in the UK. Participants had to answer questions about their experience with nature, the choice to live in less urbanized areas, the duration and frequency with which they go to natural spaces, such as public parks or private gardens. The team also performed genetic sequencing.
The love of nature is partially hereditary
Identical twins, who have identical genetic information, had the same responses regarding their nature orientation and frequency of nature walks as fraternal twins, who share about 50% of their genetic material, according to the results. .
“We estimate that the heritability of orientation to nature (46%) and nature-related experiences (48% for frequency of visits to public natural areas, 34% for frequency of visits to gardens and 38 % for the duration of garden visits) is moderate and shows that their genetic components partially overlap”, detailed the authors. Clearly, a moderate influence of genetics on how people enjoy nature has been found.
The influence of environmental factors
The researchers noted that environmental factors explained more than half of the differences between individuals. People living in urban environments tended to have fewer nature-related experiences, due for example to limited access to gardens. Heritability would also decline with age, suggesting that genetics may lose influence as people age and cope with environmental conditions.
“Spending time in nature is linked to better health and well-being. This study shows that a person’s desire to be in nature and the frequency of their experiences are influenced by both genes and personal experiences”, concluded Chia-chen Chang, a professor at the National University of Singapore, who led the research.
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