Committed Bird-Watchers Gain Greater Psychological Restorative Benefits Compared to Those Less Committed Regardless of Expertise

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown a positive impact of nature on psychological restoration and on well-being, which, in turn, are related to life satisfaction. Previous studies were place based or episode assessments, usually in the field. Here, we studied bird-watchers at different levels of their recreational specialization, especially the factor commitment. We applied a leisure activity-related questionnaire to assess psychological restorativeness. We analyzed responses from 388 bird-watchers (260 male, 127 female, 1 diverse) from an internet survey. Three factors emerged and were labeled as restoration, detachment, and experiencing freedom. We here show for the first time that the psychological restorativeness of a leisure activity is dependent on the recreational specialization level. Psychological commitment toward birding was related to all three factors. Thus, birders do not need to have a high knowledge or must do many birding trips, but rather birding needs to be important to their life. This, in turn, suggests that even beginners in bird-watching with low expertise may gain health benefits from their leisure activity.