Nature connectedness and subjective well-being in college students

Pages: 14-18
V. Gobinath (Department of Psychology, PSG College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)
T. Jothimani (Department of Psychology, PSG College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)

Humans remained inseparable from the natural environment until the upsurge of technological advancement. Access to the natural environment is significantly different when comparing people living in urban and rural areas. Previous findings have revealed the effect of the proximity to nature on the physical and mental well-being of humans. In the current scenario, where the government is investing sufficiently more on creating cities through government policies, it would be inevitable to understand the impact of individuals’ attitude towards their environment and its impact on individual’s well-being. This study aims to compare the relationship between the sense of connectedness towards nature and Subjective well-being among college students of rural and urban background. The sample (N= 200) consisted of both male (n= 100) and female (n= 100) students from rural and urban backgrounds. The participants were administered with, Connectedness to nature scale and The Flourishing Scale. The data collected was analyzed by using Pearson’s correlation Coefficient and Independent sample t-test. The analysis of the data revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between Nature connectedness and subjective well-being among male and female students and the rural counterparts have reported to have a comparatively better connectedness to nature and thereby a better state of subjective well-being than their urban counterparts. The more a person feels connected to nature in his surroundings, the more is his sense of subjective well-being.