Abstract
The importance of nature and the environment in relation to human health is coalescing, as demonstrated by the increased research that attempts to measure nature connectedness and relatedness. These findings align with constructs of cultural connectedness that assess for land connectedness as part of Indigenous ways of knowing. From an Indigenous worldview, relationships with the environment are critical to wellbeing. The purpose of this comprehensive systematic scoping literature review was two-fold: (1) identify and summarize existing measures of land, nature, and/or environmental connectedness, relatedness, and attitudes and (2) evaluate the psychometric properties of these scales. In total, 1438 articles were retrieved from select databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL (EBSCO), and Academic Search Complete (EBSCO). The final searches and application of the inclusion/exclusion criteria resulted in 57 unique articles and 38 scales categorized as connectedness and relatedness scales (n = 9 scales), attitudinal and values-based scales (n = 16 scales), cultural and spiritually based scales (n = 9 scales), and paradigm-based scales (n = 4 scales) (articles could be placed in multiple categories). Psychometric properties and general outcomes associated with nature-related scales are reported, with implications for future education, research, practice, and policy.
Highlights
An understanding of the role of nature to human wellbeing is beginning to emerge, as evidenced by the growing attention of scholars to this field
Articles included in the review referenced various types of measurements and scales that relate to nature connectedness, including scales that referenced connecting with nature/environment as a result of cultural connectedness, scales that assessed for spirituality that included connection with nature, scales that assessed nature and environmental attitudes, and scales that assessed for nature connectedness indirectly through moral expansiveness, spiritual, or cultural connectedness
Ten different scales measuring some form of nature connectedness and relatedness were identified from forty different studies: Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) [3], Connection to Nature Index [29], FlexiTwins Implicit Connectedness with Nature [30], Nature Relatedness Scale (NR-21) [4], Nature Relatedness short form (NR-6) [7], Recalled
Summary
An understanding of the role of nature to human wellbeing is beginning to emerge, as evidenced by the growing attention of scholars to this field. In 1984, Wilson laid down the theoretical underpinnings of this movement by publishing Biophilia, which hypothesized that humans tend to seek connection with nature and other life forms. The biophilia hypothesis has informed numerous researchers in a variety of disciplines, including those who developed scales to measure different aspects of human’s connection to nature [2]. Over the past thirty years, a significant number of studies related to nature connectedness have been published, resulting in 28 unique scales that were included in our review. Once validated, these scales have been used to assess various aspects of the connection of humans with nature. The most common scales include Connectedness to Nature, a scale that assesses nature as a source of happiness [3]; Nature Relatedness, a scale that measures
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