Ecospirituality has consequences for how we make decisions about the environment
Across the world and through time, people have felt a spiritual connection with nature. This connection comes in many flavours—from feeling at one with nature to seeing nature as God's creation. These beliefs matter because they shape the way we make important decisions about how nature is treated.
Key Publications
Review of ecospirituality, sustainability, & well-being.
Billet, M. I., Baimel, A., Schaller, M., & Norenzayan, A. (2025) Ecospirituality. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 34(2), 97-104. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214241304326 [pdf]
Development of Ecospirituality Scale, its link with moralization of nature, and consequences for environmental decision-making.
Billet, M. I., Baimel, A., Sahakari, S. S., Schaller, M., & Norenzayan, A. (2023). Ecospirituality: The psychology of moral concern for nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 87, 102001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102001 [pdf]
Further Work
Ecospirituality promotes prosociality to nature across cultures.
Billet, M. I. & Baimel. A. (in review). Ecospirituality predicts pro-environmental outcomes across cultures. Preprint available: osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/dtu7c
Societal factors predict ecospirituality across cultures.
Billet, M. I. & Baimel. A. (in review). Religion, urbanization, and affluence are antecedents of ecospirituality across cultures. Preprint available: osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/veq2k
Ecospirituality is associated with indicators of well-being.
Billet, M. I., McPherson, A. R., Norenzayan, A., & Schaller, M. (2025). Seeing nature through a spiritual lens: The effects of a novel photo-taking task on environmental concern and well-being. Collabra: Psychology, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.128463 [pdf]
Ecospirituality predicts gratitude to nature across religions.
White, C. J. M., & Billet, M. I. (2024). The roles of anthropomorphism, spirituality, and gratitude in pro-environmental attitudes. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2024.2363759 [pdf]