Introduction: It has been widely demonstrated that nature contact can contribute to human well-being. Meaning in life is also embedded in nature, yet previous research has less frequently used a meaning in life as a mediating mechanism to explain the role of nature contact in promoting subjective well-being from that perspective.
Purpose: The current study developed a 7-day online nature-based photography intervention to validate the use of meaning photography based on nature for promoting well-being, and the study will contribute to the joint realization of the United Nations SDG3 and SDG13 goals. Traditional photography interventions for meaning in life have been used to enhance well-being, and integration with nature meaning acquisition will facilitate the development of this intervention approach.
Method: A pre-registered three-arm randomized controlled trial (meaning-writing group vs meaning-photography group vs waiting list) was conducted with 219 college students. In the meaning-writing group, participants captured nature scenes and wrote 100-word reflections. The photography group only took nature photos. A conservative Bayesian causal forest analysis based on machine learning was used to detect both treatment and heterogeneous intervention effects.
Results: Participants who combined photography with reflective writing showed notable improvements in their meaning in life, well-being, and life satisfaction compared to waiting list, which can be also found in the meaning-photography group. However, these effects were not sustained after one month. The intervention was especially beneficial for participants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, with limited prior nature exposure, or lower baseline psychological well-being.
Conclusion: Importantly, enhanced meaning in life helped explain how nature contact improved well-being and life satisfaction. This study also demonstrated that combining nature-based photography and reflective writing can improve well-being.