People place more value on the future after exposure to nature. The results of three studies—two laboratory experiments and a field study—reveal future discount rates 10-16% lower after nature exposure than after exposure to urban landscapes. Thus, cues of natural environments entice people to prefer greater delayed rewards over smaller immediate rewards.
van der Wal, Arianne J., Hannah M. Schade, Lydia Krabbendam, and Mark van Vugt. (2013). Do natural landscapes reduce future discounting in humans? Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences, 280(1773). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2295
