Journal
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 84, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101876
Keywords
WHO-5; Intrinsic motivation; Subjective well-being; Blue; green space; Cross-cultural analysis; Childhood
Funding
- European Union [666773]
- Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University
- Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
- Griffith University
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon
- Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland
- Internal University of Exeter-Chinese University of Hong Kong international collaboration fund
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Contact with natural environments is beneficial for health and well-being. Childhood nature experiences play an important role in developing individuals' relationship with nature and subsequent well-being; however, previous studies have not focused enough on the mechanisms by which childhood experiences influence well-being in adulthood.
Contact with natural environments is associated with good health and well-being. Although childhood nature experiences may be important in the development of an individual's relationship with nature and subsequent well-being, previous studies have tended to focus on 'nature' in general, and the mechanisms by which childhood experiences influence well-being in adulthood remain insufficiently studied. Drawing on cross-sectional survey data from an 18-country sample (N =15,743) the current work extended previous research by examining: a) blue spaces (coasts, rivers, lakes, etc.) in particular; b) associations between adults' recalled childhood exposure to blue spaces, frequency of recent visits to green and blues spaces, and adult subjective well-being; c) the role of childhood exposure to blue spaces on intrinsic motivations to spend time in nature; and d) the consistency of these relationships across different countries. Tests of a model where childhood exposure to blue spaces was linked to adult subjective well-being serially through intrinsic motivation and then recent blue and green space visits exhibited a good fit, a pattern largely consistent across all 18 countries. However, an alternative model where recent visits predicted intrinsic motivation also demonstrated good fit, indicating that these processes may be iterative. Building familiarity with and confidence in and around blue spaces in childhood may stimulate a joy of, and greater propensity to spend recreational time in, nature in adulthood, with positive consequences for adult subjective well-being.
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