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Adolescents' emotional affinity toward nature: A cross-sectional study

Children's emotional affinity towards nature is a strong predictor of their willingness to protect the environment

Müller and colleagues examined the relationship between children’s emotional connection or affinity towards nature and their willingness to protect the environment in two different European societies, Germany and Lithuania, and contexts, urban and rural. Their purpose was to deepen understanding of what factors contribute to young people’s willingness to take action to benefit the environment. They hypothesized that an emotional connection would have a strong positive impact on a commitment to environmental action.

Researchers had over 400 high school students in 11th and 12th grades from urban and rural environments in Lithuania and Germany complete a survey to assess their emotional affinity towards nature, awareness of environmental risks, current contact with nature, and willingness for pro-environmental commitment.

In analyzing the data, Müller and colleagues found that children’s emotional affinity towards nature was a significant predictor of children’s willingness for pro-environmental commitment. With regard to direct nature contact, researchers found that children’s contact with nature did not have a direct relationship to their willingness for pro-environmental commitment, but rather impacted their willingness for pro-environmental commitment indirectly through the development of emotional affinity towards nature. In addition, Müller and colleagues discovered important inter-individual and cross-societal differences. For example, girls were more connected to nature, spent more time in nature, were more aware of environmental risks, and expressed more willingness for pro-environmental commitment than boys, while Lithuanian children had a higher affinity towards nature than German children and children living in rural areas spent more time with nature than those from urban areas.

In concluding their article, Müller and colleagues highlight the need for additional research to better understand how nature affinity is developed and effective ways to support children’s contact with nature to ensure children build emotional connections and develop a desire to protect nature. Given their cross-cultural interests, they pose the question of which aspects of a connection to nature might be universal.

 

Citation

Müller, M., Kals, E., Pansa, R., (2009). Adolescents' emotional affinity toward nature: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Developmental Processes, 4(1), 59-69.

DOI

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