Happiness is in our Nature: Exploring Nature Relatedness as a Contributor to Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

Nature relatedness, Happiness, Well-being, Positive affect, Vitality, Environmental attitudes, Environmental education,

Who Cares? The Importance of Emotional Connections with Nature to Ensure Food Security and Wellbeing in Cities

“…Interacting with nature can result in a range of human benefits including physical health, mental health, psychological health, psychological wellbeing, life meaning, cognitive ability and social cohesion, and provide spaces for physical and social activities to take place [3,14,18,19,25,28,[50][51][52][53][54]. Shanahan et al [17] identify three main pathways of nature benefitting wellbeing: direct pathway to physical health (e.g., a tree reflecting light and thereby managing temperature extremes); indirect pathway to physical health (e.g., a tree providing more shade promoting and encouraging physical activity); and an indirect pathway to mental health (e.g., the experience of viewing nature having restorative impacts on the brain).…”

“…This period can often come with heightened stress and anxiety levels. Research has shown that nature experiences (including gardening) increase empathy for the natural world in children, as well as their perceptual skills, self-esteem, self-acceptance and self-efficacy [6,52,115], thereby bolstering their resilience so they can cope better with adversity [116]. In other words, nature buffers the negative effects produced by stressful situations by providing psychological restoration [116].…”

Flourishing in nature: A review of the benefits of connecting with nature and its application as a wellbeing intervention

“…For example, feeling that one's life is meaningful correlates positively with nature connectedness (e.g., Cervinka, Roderer, & Hefler, 2012;Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy, 2011). Furthermore, experiences in natural environments are an important source of meaning for adults of all ages (Fegg, Kramer, L'hoste, & Borasio, 2008;O'Connor & Chamberlain, 1996;Reker & Woo, 2011;Schnell, 2009;Steger et al, 2013), including clinical populations (e.g., Berger & McLeod, 2006;Granerud & Eriksson, 2014).…”

Ni muy cerca ni muy lejos: parques urbanos y bienestar subjetivo en la ciudad de Barranquilla, Colombia

“…Tercero, se ha encontrado que quienes viven en ambientes más verdes tienen una mejor salud mental, reportan menos síntomas de malestar físico y un mejor estado de salud en general (Nisbet, Zelenski & Murphy, 2011). Si bien esto está asociado con los efectos restaurativos mencionados anteriormente, también obedece a las relaciones cognitivas, afectivas y vivenciales de los individuos con el mundo natural, y la consecuente respuesta emocional que de ello se desprende.…”