Transcendent Nature: Collective Participation in a Natural Environment Promotes Psychosocial Effects that Transcend the Group

Poster Session
José J. Pizarro,  Daniel Zuazagotia,  Silvia da Costa,  Aritz Ruiz,  Nekane Basabe,  Jon Zabala  

Participating in collective settings (e.g., religious, secular) is not only ubiquitous, but also socially beneficial. Abundant literature shows improvements in social cohesion and integration (Páez et al., 2015) and wellbeing (Tewari et al., 2012), however, there is still a gap considering other forms of participation, such as those with less ritualized behaviors in natural settings. Based on Durkheim’s (1912/1995) model of participation in collective rituals and gatherings, this study evaluates the psychosocial effects of participating in an 8-week long ecological training course in a vegetable garden. Initially 42 participants (64% women; 19-68; M = 25.84, SD = 10.57) were assessed at T1 (1 week before starting), T2 (las session), and T3 (2 weeks after finishing) focusing in wellbeing, shared emotions, shared Identity and social integration (T1 and T3), while T2 evaluation measured two mechanisms: Perceived Emotional Synchrony (PES) and Shared Flow (SF). Results show that PES and SF explain significant increases in participants’ wellbeing (individual), shared emotions and identifications (group) and social integration (with others). In all, this study suggest that collective participation with a natural theme promotes positive psychosocial outcomes that can transcend the nature of the group, and thus be of great value for intra- and inter-group relationships.