Direct Experience of Nature as a Predictor of Environmentally Responsible Behaviors

Autor: Constantinos Yanniris, Costas Gavrilakis, Michael L. Hoover
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Forests, Vol 14, Iss 11, p 2233 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1999-4907
DOI: 10.3390/f14112233
Popis: A small but growing body of literature suggests that outdoor experiences during childhood affect environment-related behaviors in adulthood. However, research on the magnitude of the effect (effect size) of outdoor experience on learners’ behaviors remains scarce. In this study, we explored the extent to which outdoor experiences are associated with environmentally responsible behaviors. Our sample consisted of 143 ninth- and tenth-grade students living on a Greek island. The data were collected using a properly adjusted environmental literacy instrument. Two different methodological pathways, i.e., a quasi-experimental approach and correlation analysis, were used to analyze the data. A tentative variable representing the frequency and intensity of students’ experiential contact with nature was found to be the strongest available predictor of their self-reported pro-environmental behaviors. The findings of this study support the significance of outdoor, experiential learning during childhood in shaping individuals’ environmental behaviors.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals