A new study shows that a rapidly-growing environmental science field—which measures nature's effects on human well-being—has a diversity problem. Assessing 174 peer-reviewed studies from 2010 to 2020, researchers at the University of Vermont found that study participants were overwhelmingly white, and that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities were strongly underrepresented. They also found that there was an inherent cultural bias in this corpus of work, noting that there was a tendency to conceptualize and define human-nature relationships with values that are western focused and may not capture the worldview of indigenous communities.
Commenting on the implications of these findings, the authors emphasize that while there is “nothing necessarily wrong with the existing findings" … they may not apply to the entire population. They call for future research to be more mindful of capturing diversity so that findings can be universally applied, and cultural boundaries determined.
Reference:
Sofia Quaglia “Studies on nature’s mental health benefits shows ‘massive’ western bias.” The Guardian, May 5, 2022.
