📄 social_science

Research on the Influence Mechanism of Natural Connection on Environmental Empathy of Outdoor Adventurers from the Perspective of Unmarked Tourism Behavior

Grounded in CAAI theory and a leave-no-trace perspective, this study empirically investigates how nature connection influences environmental empathy behavior among outdoor adventurers in China through a chained mediation model involving ecological affect and place attachment, aiming to address ecological damage and promote sustainable industry development.

Original authors: Zhehao Zhang, xiaofei Wang, Chaoyang Zhang, Jizhe Zhang, Tong Luan, Chuan Xia Shi, Wen Che

Published 2026-07-03

📖 5 min read🧠 Deep dive

CC BY 4.0

Original authors: Zhehao Zhang, xiaofei Wang, Chaoyang Zhang, Jizhe Zhang, Tong Luan, Chuan Xia Shi, Wen Che

Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ✨ This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer

The Big Picture: Why Do Adventurers Care About Nature?

Imagine the outdoor sports industry in China is like a rapidly growing garden. It's getting huge and popular, but because so many people are rushing in, the garden is getting trampled, littered, and damaged. The researchers wanted to solve a specific problem: How do we get outdoor adventurers (hikers, campers, explorers) to naturally want to protect the garden instead of hurting it?

They didn't just ask, "Do you like nature?" Instead, they looked at the psychological chain reaction that happens inside a person's mind when they connect with nature. They wanted to see how a simple feeling of "connection" turns into actual "protective behavior."

The Core Theory: The "Heart-to-Hand" Pipeline

The researchers used a framework called CAA (Cognition, Affect, Attitude, Intention). Think of this like a factory assembly line for making a good citizen of nature.

The Raw Material (Nature Connection): This is the starting point. It's the deep, instinctive feeling that you belong to the natural world, not just that you are visiting it.
- Analogy: Imagine you are a fish. If you just swim in a tank, you are a visitor. If you realize the water is your home and your life depends on it, that is Nature Connection.
The Spark (Ecological Emotion): Once you feel connected, you start feeling things deeply. You feel awe at a mountain or sadness for a polluted stream.
- Analogy: This is the "heartwarming" or "heartbreaking" moment. It's the emotional spark that lights a fire under you.
The Anchor (Local Identity): These feelings make you feel like you "own" or belong to that specific place. You stop seeing it as "the park" and start seeing it as "my place."
- Analogy: It's the difference between staying in a hotel room (where you might leave a mess) and staying in your own living room (where you instinctively pick up your trash).
The Action (Environmental Empathy): Finally, this chain leads to action. You don't just feel bad about damage; you actively stop doing it and start helping.
- Analogy: This is the moment you pick up someone else's litter or stop a friend from carving their name into a tree.

What the Study Actually Found

The researchers surveyed 447 outdoor adventurers (mostly young students) to test this "assembly line." Here is what the data told them:

The Chain Works: They proved that the process isn't just one step. It's a domino effect.
- Step 1: If you have a strong Nature Connection, you develop strong Ecological Emotions (Hypothesis 1).
- Step 2: If you have strong Nature Connection, you also develop a strong sense of Local Identity (feeling you belong there) (Hypothesis 2).
- Step 3: Those strong Ecological Emotions make you care more about the place, strengthening your Local Identity (Hypothesis 4).
- Step 4: Both strong Emotions and strong Local Identity directly lead to Environmental Empathy (protective behavior) (Hypotheses 5 & 6).
The "Double-Check" Path: The study found that the most powerful way to get to the "Action" stage is a long chain:
- Connection $\rightarrow$ Emotion $\rightarrow$ Identity $\rightarrow$ Action.
- It's like a relay race where the baton passes through three runners before crossing the finish line.

The "Leave No Trace" Angle

The study is grounded in the idea of "Leave No Trace" (LNT). Think of LNT as the rulebook for being a good guest in nature's house. The researchers found that you can't just tell people the rules; you have to make them feel like they are part of the house. When they feel that deep connection, following the rules becomes automatic, not forced.

What the Researchers Admitted They Didn't Do (Limitations)

The paper is very honest about its own flaws, which is important to note:

The Sample was "Homogeneous": The people they asked were mostly young (18–30 years old) and highly educated students.
- Analogy: It's like trying to understand how all drivers behave by only interviewing college students who just got their licenses. You might miss how older drivers or truck drivers behave.
The "One-Size-Fits-All" Problem: They treated "Nature Connection" as one big thing. They didn't separate how a rock climber feels about a mountain versus how a camper feels about a forest.
- Analogy: They asked, "Do you like nature?" but didn't ask, "Do you love the mountain differently than you love the river?" The feelings might be different for different types of adventures.

The Practical Takeaway (What the Paper Suggests)

Based only on their findings, the researchers suggest that if you want to protect outdoor areas:

Don't just lecture; create connection: Instead of just posting signs that say "Don't litter," create experiences that make people feel emotionally bonded to the place.
Build the "Local Identity": Help adventurers feel like the place is theirs. When people feel a place is their home, they take care of it.
Use the Chain: Focus on the emotional spark first. If you can make them feel awe or sadness for nature, the rest of the chain (identity and action) is more likely to follow.

Summary in One Sentence

This study proves that for outdoor adventurers, the desire to protect nature isn't just a rule they follow; it's a chain reaction that starts with feeling connected to nature, turns into deep emotion, creates a sense of belonging, and finally results in caring actions.

Technical Summary: Research on the Influence Mechanism of Natural Connection on Environmental Empathy of Outdoor Adventurers from the Perspective of Unmarked Tourism Behavior

Problem Statement
The rapid expansion of China's outdoor sports industry, driven by the "Healthy China" strategy and consumption upgrades, has precipitated severe ecological challenges, including irreversible damage to sites like Nianbaoyuze National Park and the Aotao Trail. While the industry aims to transform "lucid waters and lush mountains" into economic assets, this growth often conflicts with ecological conservation. Current research on outdoor adventure largely focuses on physical and emotional dimensions, leaving a gap in understanding the cognitive, attitudinal, and intentional mechanisms that drive environmental empathy. Specifically, there is insufficient exploration of how "nature connection" translates into pro-environmental behaviors (such as Leave No Trace practices) through intermediate psychological pathways. This study addresses this gap by investigating the formation mechanism of environmental empathy behavior intentions among outdoor adventurers.

Methodology
The study employs a quantitative research design grounded in the Cognitive-Affective-Attitudinal-Intentional (CAAI) theoretical framework and Leave No Trace (LNT) principles.

Data Collection: A survey was conducted in October and November 2025 targeting individuals with outdoor adventure experience. Data was collected via the Wenshuaxing platform using QR codes and group chat sharing. Out of 503 distributed questionnaires, 447 valid responses were retained after excluding 53 invalid entries.
Sample Characteristics: The sample was predominantly young (91.9% aged 18–30) and highly educated (70.7% with bachelor's degrees), with a majority being students (39.8% with no fixed income, 32.2% earning <3,000 yuan).
Measures: The study utilized a five-point Likert scale for four latent variables:
- Natural Connection: Adapted from Mayer et al. (5 items).
- Ecological Emotion: Adapted from Yu Zhenzhen (12 items).
- Local Identity: Adapted from Tonge et al. (4 items).
- Environmental Empathy: Adapted from Smith et al. (4 items).
Analysis: Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27 and SmartPLS 3.0. The study employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test a chained mediation model. Reliability and validity were assessed via Cronbach's alpha, Composite Reliability (CR), Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and the Harman single-factor test for common method bias.

Key Results
The structural equation modeling validated the proposed chained mediation model, confirming nine hypotheses:

Direct Effects: Natural connection significantly and positively influences ecological emotion ( $\beta=0.670, p<0.001$ ), local identity ( $\beta=0.387, p<0.001$ ), and environmental empathy ( $\beta=0.159, p<0.01$ ).
Mediating Paths:
- Ecological emotion significantly influences local identity ( $\beta=0.445, p<0.001$ ) and environmental empathy ( $\beta=0.367, p<0.001$ ).
- Local identity significantly influences environmental empathy ( $\beta=0.304, p<0.001$ ).
Chained Mediation: The study confirmed a significant chain mediation effect: Natural Connection $\rightarrow$ Ecological Emotion $\rightarrow$ Local Identity $\rightarrow$ Environmental Empathy.
- The indirect effect of Natural Connection on Environmental Empathy via Ecological Emotion was 0.218 ( $p<0.001$ ).
- The indirect effect via Local Identity was 0.119 ( $p<0.001$ ).
- The full chain mediation effect was 0.090 ( $p<0.001$ ).
Model Fit: The model demonstrated strong predictive capability with $R^2$ values exceeding 0.19 for outcome variables and Stone-Geisser's $Q^2$ values exceeding 0.

Key Contributions

Theoretical Extension: The study extends the CAAI framework into the specific context of outdoor adventure, validating the "cognition-emotion-attitude-behavior" psychological chain for environmental empathy. It moves beyond direct relationship analyses to uncover the sequential mediating roles of ecological emotion and place identity.
Mechanism Clarification: It elucidates the complex causal chain where nature connection fosters environmental empathy not just directly, but through the transformation of cognitive bonds into emotional experiences (ecological affect) and subsequently into stable attitudes (local identity).
Practical Application: The findings provide a scientific basis for the outdoor industry's ecological transformation. The study suggests that management strategies should focus on cultivating deep nature connections to trigger emotional and attitudinal shifts, thereby promoting Leave No Trace behaviors.

Significance and Limitations
The paper claims significance in providing a theoretical basis for ecological governance in outdoor recreation, assisting authorities in developing advocacy strategies that balance economic growth with ecological conservation. It supports the "Two Mountains" philosophy by demonstrating how psychological mechanisms can drive sustainable industry practices.

However, the authors explicitly acknowledge limitations regarding the study's generalizability. The sample exhibited selection bias, being heavily skewed toward young students (91.9% aged 18–30) and highly educated individuals, with a gender imbalance (83.9% female in the discussion section, though 46.31% in the results table; the discussion notes a specific imbalance). Furthermore, the study treated "nature connection" as a holistic construct without distinguishing between specific adventure scenarios (e.g., mountaineering vs. camping), which may limit the applicability of findings to diverse outdoor contexts. The authors propose that future research should employ stratified sampling, segment adventure scenarios, incorporate moderating variables, and conduct cross-cultural comparisons to refine the model.