Human-nature connectedness as a pathway to sustainability: A global meta-analysis.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Barragan-Jason G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9286792 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Research suggests that contact with nature can be beneficial, for example leading to improvements in mood, cognition, and health. A distinct but related idea is the personality construct of subjective nature connectedness, a stable individual difference in cognitive, affective, and experiential connection with the natural environment. Subjective nature connectedness is a strong predictor of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors that may also be positively associated with subjective well-being. This meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between nature connectedness and happiness. Based on 30 samples (n = 8523), a fixed-effect meta-analysis found a small but significant effect size (r = 0.19). Those who are more connected to nature tended to experience more positive affect, vitality, and life satisfaction compared to those less connected to nature. Publication status, year, average age, and percentage of females in the sample were not significant moderators. Vitality had the strongest relationship with nature connectedness (r = 0.24), followed by positive affect (r = 0.22) and life satisfaction (r = 0.17). In terms of specific nature connectedness measures, associations were the strongest between happiness and inclusion of nature in self (r = 0.27), compared to nature relatedness (r = 0.18) and connectedness to nature (r = 0.18). This research highlights the importance of considering personality when examining the psychological benefits of nature. The results suggest that closer human-nature relationships do not have to come at the expense of happiness. Rather, this meta-analysis shows that being connected to nature and feeling happy are, in fact, connected.
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Project description:The Arctic is an epicenter of complex environmental and socioeconomic change. Strengthened connections between Arctic and non-Arctic systems could threaten or enhance Arctic sustainability, but studies of external influences on the Arctic are scattered and fragmented in academic literature. Here, we review and synthesize how external influences have been analyzed in Arctic-coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) literature. Results show that the Arctic is affected by numerous external influences nearby and faraway, including global markets, climate change, governance, military security, and tourism. However, apart from climate change, these connections are infrequently the focus of Arctic CHANS analyses. We demonstrate how Arctic CHANS research could be enhanced and research gaps could be filled using the holistic framework of metacoupling (human-nature interactions within as well as between adjacent and distant systems). Our perspectives provide new approaches to enhance the sustainability of Arctic systems in an interconnected world.
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Project description:Calls for a reconnection to nature and the biosphere have been growing louder over the last decades. Cultural landscapes are rapidly changing, posing a threat to ecosystems and biodiversity, but also to human-nature connections. Human-nature connectedness may be a potential lever to shift the unsustainable trajectory that we are currently proceeding, but is also negatively influenced by it. To concretize the call for a reconnection to nature, we used the leverage points perspective on five empirical case studies with focus on human-nature connectedness. Based on the synthesis of our yearlong work, in this perspective paper, we propose four leverage points to foster a sustainability transformation: (1) maintain and enhance the structural diversity of landscapes, (2) maintain and enhance economically and ecologically sustainable small-scale agriculture, (3) strengthen sense of place and (4) strengthen sense of agency in actors. Intervening in these leverage points could be effective to foster human-nature connectedness and ultimately contribute towards a sustainable trajectory. We further argue that the interconnection between leverage points is equally important as their systemic depth.
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Project description:The Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) is used as a measure of the subjective cognitive connection between individuals and nature. However, to date, it has not been analyzed at the item level to confirm its quality. In the present study, we conduct such an analysis based on Item Response Theory. We employed data from previous studies using the Spanish-language version of the CNS, analyzing a sample of 1008 participants. The results show that seven items presented appropriate indices of discrimination and difficulty, in addition to a good fit. The remaining six have inadequate discrimination indices and do not present a good fit. A second study with 321 participants shows that the seven-item scale has adequate levels of reliability and validity. Therefore, it would be appropriate to use a reduced version of the scale after eliminating the items that display inappropriate behavior, since they may interfere with research results on connectedness to nature.
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Project description:This cross-sectional study aims to improve our understanding of the psychological pathways behind the commonly reported link between experiences in nature and pro-environmentalism. Particularly, we explore whether nature experiences lead to self-reported pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) and whether this relation is mediated by connectedness to nature. Additionally, we examine the possible lasting effect of childhood experiences with nature on adults' PEB. Most studies reporting on the link between contact with nature and pro-environmentalism have been conducted in developed countries, limiting the generalization of the results. To address this gap in the literature, the current study was conducted in a developing country (Brazil) with a sample of 224 young adults. According to our findings, greater contact with nature during childhood is associated with greater contact with nature as an adult, which, in turn, is positively associated with connectedness to nature and PEB. The stimulation of pleasant experiences while in direct contact with nature during childhood seems to trigger interactions with nature in adulthood and consequently, adults embrace pro-environmental actions.
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Project description:Among the protective factors associated with reduced risk for suicide, scientific inquiries into school connectedness are especially important considering that schools are ideally situated to provide interventions reaching the vast majority of youth. Although there is a wealth of research that supports the association between school connectedness and reduced self-report of adolescents having a suicidal thought or making a suicide attempt, inconsistencies in the way studies have measured and operationalized school connectedness limit synthesis across findings. This meta-analytic study investigates the literature exploring associations between school connectedness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors across general and subpopulations (high risk and sexual minority youth) using a random effects model. Eligible studies examined a measure of school connectedness explicitly referred to as "school connectedness" or "connections at school" in relation to suicidal ideation or suicide attempts among youth enrolled in school (Grades 6-12). Multiple metaregression analyses were conducted to explore the influence of school connectedness measurement variation, as well as participant characteristics. Results, including 16 samples, support that higher school connectedness is associated with reduced reports of suicidal thoughts and behaviors across general (odds ratio [OR] = 0.536), high-risk (OR = 0.603), and sexual minority (OR = 0.608) adolescents. Findings are consistent when analyzed separately for suicidal ideation (OR = 0.529) and suicide attempts (OR = 0.589) and remain stable when accounting for measurement variability. Although limited by its cross-sectional nature, findings support recent calls to increase school connectedness and proffer important implications for screening and intervention efforts conducted in schools. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Project description:Given the environmental problems humanity is currently facing, and considering that the future of the planet lies in the hands of children and their actions, research on the determinants of sustainable behaviors in children has become more relevant; nonetheless, studies on this topic focusing on children are scarce. Previous research on adults suggests, in an isolated manner, the relationship between connectedness to nature, the development of behaviors in favor of the environment, and positive results derived from them, such as happiness and well-being. In the present research, connectedness to nature was considered as a determinant of sustainable behaviors, and happiness was considered as a positive consequence of the latter. This research aimed to demonstrate the relationship between these variables in children. Two hundred and ninety-six children with an average age of 10.42 years old participated in the study, in which they responded to a research instrument that measured connectedness to nature, sustainable behaviors (pro-ecological behavior, frugality, altruism, and equity), and happiness. To analyze the relationships between these variables, a model of structural equations was specified and tested. The results revealed a significant relationship between connectedness to nature and sustainable behaviors, which, in turn, impact happiness. This suggests that children who perceive themselves as more connected to nature tend to perform more sustainable behaviors; also, the more pro-ecological, frugal, altruistic, and equitable the children are, the greater their perceived happiness will be. The implications for studying and promoting sustainable behaviors are discussed within the framework of positive psychology.
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Project description:Most recent epidemics have originated in complex human-nature interactions and yet, our knowledge is very limited regarding the psychological aspects of human-nature relationships that underlie individual human responses in times of pandemic crises. We propose that the concept of connectedness with nature and associated individual difference measures offer a relevant and useful lens to inform us about how humans think, feel and behave in such critical times. Our two-wave study, conducted with 486 United States residents at the end of March 2020 (wave 1) and 533 United States residents at the beginning of May 2020 (wave 2), focuses on the 2020 coronavirus situation. It maps individual responses to the current pandemic in terms of mental representations, behavioral tendencies and perceived impact, and explores the relationships of these constructs to individual levels of connectedness with nature. As this research employs an exploratory methodology, our results provide an account of potential relationships rather than their validation and thus represent an encouraging steppingstone for research on human behavior in the time of a global pandemic. We identify a series of research propositions and questions for systematic future inquiry.
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Project description:Previous studies have reported a significant association between nature exposure and positive body image, but understandings of the mechanisms that help to explain this link remain nascent. Here, we considered the extent to which trait mindfulness and connectedness to nature, respectively, mediate the aforementioned relationship both in parallel and serially. An online sample of 398 participants (199 women, 196 men, 3 other; age M?=?28.1 years) from the United Kingdom completed measures of self-reported nature exposure, mindful awareness and acceptance, connectedness to nature, and body appreciation. Results indicated that inter-correlations between scores on all measures were significant and positive. Following the elimination of non-significant pathways, path analysis resulted in an adequately-fitting model in which the direct relationship between nature exposure and body appreciation was significant. In addition, connectedness to nature - but not trait mindfulness - significantly mediated the direct relationship. Finally, we also found evidence of a serial mediation, where the association between nature exposure and body appreciation was mediated by mindful awareness followed by connectedness to nature. The implications of these results for scholarly and practitioner understanding of the impact of nature exposure on positive body image are discussed in conclusion.
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