Nature Heals: The Relationship of Nature-Connectedness with Subjective Happiness and Resilience

Abstract

Empirical research has proven that being connected to nature can have several psychological and physical benefits for human beings. Some of the most commonly discussed benefits include improvements in affect and well-being. However, a review of the available literature shows that this area remains relatively unexplored in the Indian context when compared with the West. Furthermore, several existing studies in this area have made use of qualitative data which is dependent, to an extent, on the interpretation of the researchers. Keeping in mind the benefits of connectedness to nature and the prevailing gap in research, the present study focused on making use of quantitative data in trying to find out whether there exists any relationship between connectedness to nature and subjective happiness and also between connectedness to nature and resilience in individuals living in India. Data was collected from 131 respondents on the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS), the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) using snowball sampling. The data was analysed and correlated using Pearson’s product moment correlation. Results showed the existence of a positive correlation between connectedness to nature and subjective happiness as well as between connectedness to nature and resilience, significant at the 0.01 level of significance. No significant difference was found between the mean scores of males and females. Future research should focus on developing a greater number of nature-based interventions and their implementation to benefit the community at large.