The green connection : The relationship between connection with nature and pro-environmental attitudes, behavior, and well-being of young adults in Poland ; A longitudinal study

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Preliminary findings are promising and suggest that a stronger connection to nature may contribute to the development of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors while also potentially enhancing well-being and psychological resilience. However, previous research has often been limited to cross-sectional analyses, which do not provide a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics involved in human-nature interactions. To address these methodological gaps, we conducted a two-wave longitudinal study with a six-month interval, involving 261 young adults from Poland. The results of our study demonstrated that connectedness to nature predicts an increase in pro-environmental attitudes (β = .17, p = .002) and behaviors (β = .18, p < .001) over time. Conversely, pro-environmental attitudes positively predicted subsequent connectedness to nature (β = .15, p = .002). Contrary to expectations, neither pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors nor connectedness to nature predicted later psychological well-being among the participants (p > .05), suggesting that the health benefits of connectedness to nature in this age group may have been overestimated in previous cross-sectional studies. Nevertheless, the significant effects on the development of so-called "pro-environmental orientation" justify the need for further research on connectedness to nature and suggest that interventions in this area may yield benefits for environmental protection.