Man’s attitude towards nature and his desire to walk in the fresh air are inherited, according to a large-scale study of twins in the UK led by Chia-Chen Chan from the National University of Singapore. They were published in the scientific journal Plos Biology.
Scientists studied 1,153 pairs of twins from the TwinsUK register on the topic of their attitude to nature. They were asked to compare their knowledge and desire to be in nature and asked how often they visit natural spaces such as public parks and private gardens.
It turned out that monozygotic twins, which have almost 100 percent gene matching, are much more similar in their orientation to nature and frequency of its visit than dizygotic twins, whose total genetic material is about 50 percent.
Heredity ranges from 46% in interest in nature to 34% in the frequency of visits to parks and gardens, which is a sign of moderate influence of genetics on the perception of nature.
At the same time, the attitude to nature is strongly influenced by other factors. People who live in big cities have less experience in nature because of their lifestyle and environment.
“Spending time in nature is associated with improving health and well-being,” says Chan. “Studies of twins show that a person’s desire to be in nature and how often they do so are influenced by both our genes and our personal experience.”