| Abstract | This thesis explores the relationship of nature connectedness with eudaimonic wellbeing. Nature connectedness is the term used to describe an individuals’ relationship with nature; it incorporates feelings and emotions, perceptions of nature and how it relates to the sense of self, and ways of living and being in nature. Nature connection is associated with a range of wellbeing measures including hedonic (feeling good) measures such as positive affect and life satisfaction, and eudaimonic (functioning well) indicators such as purpose in life and personal growth.
Five studies were undertaken. The first of these was a meta-analysis of nature connectedness and eudaimonic wellbeing to explore the hypothesis that this relationship is stronger than that of nature connection and hedonic wellbeing. A small significant effect size was found for the relationship of nature connection and eudaimonic wellbeing, and of the eudaimonic wellbeing subscales, personal growth had a moderate effect size which was significantly larger than the effect sizes for autonomy, purpose in life/meaning, self-acceptance, positive relations with others and environmental mastery.
Studies two and three were quantitative questionnaires further exploring nature connectedness and eudaimonic wellbeing. Study two investigated the emotional responses to perceived biodiversity, perceived naturalness and perceived wildness, and the effect of time spent in nature both in childhood and as adults. Study three was a more detailed study focussing on three specific aspects of eudaimonic wellbeing - self-transcendence, meaning and mattering – as well awe and fascination, and exploring childhood nature experiences in more depth (specifically: mode of visit, time spent in urban as oppose to wilder nature, and types of landscapes visited).
Key findings from studies two and three were that: nature connection had a particularly strong relationship with growth aspects of eudaimonic wellbeing; the link between childhood nature exposure and adult nature connectedness was on the whole an indirect one (via adult nature exposure); although the overall childhood time spent in nature was not associated with adult eudaimonic wellbeing, some aspects of childhood experience (access to remote/wild landscapes, and self-exposure to nature) did directly influence some adult eudaimonic wellbeing variables (meaning and mattering); eudaimonia was predicted by nature connection, but not by eudaimonic wellbeing; hedonia was predicted by eudaimonic wellbeing but not by nature connection; some landscapes types (such as mountains) were more associated with eudaimonia, whereas others, such as parks and gardens were more associated with hedonia.
Chapters four and five describe two qualitative studies which investigated memorable childhood experiences in nature, as recalled by adults. Key themes from the analyses indicate that early experiences in nature can be profoundly meaningful and insightful; children’s innate capacity for spirituality emerges naturally though encounters with nature, and this is important for their life-long development and relationship with nature.
Three overarching themes emerge across the five studies; the importance of nature connection as a factor in healthy psychological development across the life-course; the especial need for wilder landscapes - perceived as more natural and biodiverse - in eliciting eudaimonic emotions such as awe; and the potential explanatory role of early childhood experiences in nature in the development of adult nature connection and eudaimonic wellbeing. |
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