Nature’s beauty inspires cooperation: Study reveals the power of aesthetics in environmental conservation

A new study published in Environment and Behavior highlights the profound impact of nature’s beauty on human behavior, specifically in fostering cooperative efforts to conserve environmental resources. Researchers found that participants were more likely to cooperate in resource-sharing scenarios when the potential environmental consequences of overconsumption were made evident, especially when paired with an image of a beautiful tree. The study provides evidence for the significant role of moral and aesthetic appreciation in driving pro-environmental actions.

Environmental challenges require cooperative efforts to manage shared resources, such as forests, water, and clean air. While economic incentives and penalties have been widely studied as motivators for conservation, they often fail to capture the intrinsic, non-monetary value people place on the environment. The current study sought to explore whether emphasizing certain features of nature could enhance this moral connection and, in turn, inspire greater cooperation in resource-sharing contexts.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the line we walk every day when we make decisions—like whether to take the last slice of pizza, let someone merge in traffic, or go out of our way to recycle,” said study author Kelly Kirkland (@kellykirkland), a research fellow at the University of Queensland.

“These might seem like tiny, insignificant choices, but they add up, shaping the balance between what’s best for us as individuals and what helps us all as a collective. In psychology, this is called a ‘resource dilemma,’ where our self-interest can clash with the greater good. When we all do our part for the collective, we can create highly cohesive, well-functioning societies. But when everyone looks out for themselves, it can lead to societies that struggle to thrive.”

“And in 2024, the hottest year on record, it’s clear we’re facing a massive, global resource dilemma: putting aside our own immediate self-interest to make choices that can help slow down climate change. That’s what drew me to this topic—understanding how something like our appreciation for beauty or the moral value we place on nature might help tip the scales toward cooperation and action.”

The research involved two experiments using a “resource dilemma game” to simulate real-world decision-making scenarios. In this game, participants had to decide how many points to take from a communal pool, with the understanding that overconsumption could deplete the pool for everyone. Points taken could be converted into monetary rewards, creating an incentive for individual gain.

In first experiment, 185 U.K. participants were divided into three groups. The control group played the resource dilemma game without additional context. The second group, called the “environmental consequence” group, was told that overconsumption would reduce funds donated to a tree and plant preservation charity. The third group, the “anthropomorphic condition,” received the same environmental consequence but was also exposed to a podcast emphasizing the human-like qualities of trees, such as their ability to “communicate” through their root systems.

The game consisted of 10 rounds, with participants able to take up to 10 points per round. A warning appeared midway through the game to indicate that the pool was nearing depletion. At the end of the experiment, participants completed surveys assessing their motivations and perceptions of trees, including questions about intrinsic value, moral worth, and perceived harm.

The researchers found that the group exposed to environmental consequences showed higher cooperation than the control group. Their behavior was driven by a desire to preserve trees and protect nature, rather than by financial motivations or concerns about other players’ actions.

Participants in the anthropomorphic condition perceived trees as having “mind-like” qualities, but this did not significantly enhance cooperation compared to the standard environmental consequence group. This suggests that while anthropomorphism can influence perceptions, it may not be as effective in driving conservation behavior as other factors, such as moral value or beauty.

“What stood out to me was just how clear the impact of beauty was on people’s willingness to cooperate,” Kirkland told PsyPost. “Interestingly, we didn’t find much evidence that emphasizing the human-like qualities of trees—such as giving them traits we typically associate with sentient beings (creatures that can feel or experience things)—activated moral concern or inspired cooperation. This suggests that our moral concern isn’t solely reserved for humans, animals, or other sentient creatures. We seem to extend moral concern to non-sentient objects, like trees, and this concern motivates us to protect them.”

Building on the results of the first experiment, the second experiment introduced the concept of beauty as a potential motivator for conservation. A sample of 246 participants were again divided into three groups: a control group, a “high beauty” group, and a “low beauty” group. The environmental consequence was maintained for both the high and low beauty groups, with points remaining in the pool donated to a tree preservation charity. However, these groups also viewed images of trees that had been pre-rated for their aesthetic appeal—one image represented a highly beautiful tree, while another depicted a less beautiful tree.

The game procedure remained the same as in the first experiment, with participants making point allocation decisions over 10 rounds. As in the first experiment, surveys were administered afterward to gauge participants’ motivations and their perceptions of the trees’ beauty, purity, and moral value.

The researchers found that participants in the high beauty group cooperated more than those in the control group, taking fewer points from the pool to protect the depicted tree. However, no significant difference in behavior was observed between the control group and the low beauty group, indicating that the perceived aesthetic appeal of nature plays a critical role in driving pro-environmental actions.

The surveys further supported these findings. Participants in the high beauty condition reported stronger motivations to protect the trees and expressed greater moral concern for their preservation. They were also more likely to believe that harming the trees was morally wrong. The perception of beauty emerged as a key predictor of cooperative behavior, surpassing other factors such as the belief that trees could be harmed.

“One thing we need to understand better is what motivates people to put their own self-interest aside to take actions that benefit the greater good,” Kirkland said. “Research shows that we’re often moved to act when we feel a strong moral concern—a sense that protecting something is the ‘right’ thing to do, or that failing to act would be ‘wrong.’ So, we wanted to explore how we can activate this sense of moral obligation to inspire action for the environment.”

“What we found was that beauty stood out as a powerful motivator: when people see nature as beautiful or valuable for its own sake, they’re more likely to cooperate to protect it. This shows how fostering a moral connection to the natural world could be a key tool for encouraging conservation efforts.”

But as with all research, there are limitations to consider. The experiments were conducted in controlled, artificial settings, which may not fully capture the complexity of real-world conservation behavior.

“While we were able to show how beauty and moral concern influenced decisions in this controlled setting, there’s still a need to see how this translates to real-world behavior,” Kirkland noted. “Also, these effects might vary depending on cultural or individual differences, so more research is needed to explore that.”

Another area for exploration is the long-term impact of fostering aesthetic appreciation. The current study measured immediate cooperative behavior, but it remains unclear whether emphasizing nature’s beauty can sustain pro-environmental actions over time. Researchers are also interested in investigating whether other moral properties, such as rarity or sentimentality, could similarly inspire conservation efforts.

“We know that seeing the environment as beautiful really matters, but in reality, most of us don’t take the time in our daily lives—like on our commute home or during an afternoon run—to really notice and reflect on the beauty of nature and the trees around us,” Kirkland said. “I’d love to explore how we can encourage people to be more mindful of that beauty and whether it could lead to longer-term impacts on their actions for the environment.”

The study, “Beauty Builds Cooperation by Increasing Moral Concern for the Environment,” was authored by Kelly Kirkland, Paul A. M. Van Lange, Noah Charalambous, Calypso Strauss, and Brock Bastian.