“Mother Nature” enhances connectedness to nature and pro-environmental behavior

Abstract “Mother Nature” is representative of the anthropomorphic women-nature association in mental imagery and metaphors; however, research on the mechanism underlying this association is limited. We examined the women-nature association via implicit and explicit measurements and explored how it affected people's environmental intentions and behaviors. Study 1 found that women and men agreed implicitly that women were more closely associated with nature than men through the Implicit Association Test. Study 2 examined discriminant validity of nature's femininity and masculinity role by anthropomorphism and questionnaire. Study 3 confirmed that anthropomorphizing nature as feminine induced a significantly stronger connectedness to nature and greater pro-environmental behavioral intention and behavior than did anthropomorphizing nature as masculine. Connectedness to nature partially mediated the anthropomorphic effect on pro-environmental behavior. This research provides empirical evidence for the women-nature association and bears practical implications for environmental protection advertising, education, and nature-based tourism.