"Connectedness to Nature Scale": Validity and Reliability in the French Context.

Oscar Navarro,Pablo Olivos,Ghozlane Fleury-Bahi

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02180

Oscar Navarro, Pablo Olivos + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02180

Copy DOI

Abstract

Connectedness to nature represents the relationship of the self with the natural environment and has been operationalized using different scales. One of the most systematically studied in the Anglo-Saxon context is the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS). In an attempt to study the psychometric properties of this instrument in a French-speaking context, three studies (Study 1 n = 204, Study 2 n = 153, and Study 3 n = 322) were carried out in France to provide evidence of the internal consistency of the CNS, as well as its convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Moreover, as anticipated, positive correlations between the CNS and the environmental identity and environmental concerns scales were observed. Based on factorial analyses of maximum likelihood and reliability, an improvement in the psychometric properties was identified by eliminating three items. Through confirmatory factor analysis, the factorial structure and the psychometric properties of the CNS French version were confirmed, as well as their significate regression prediction on eudaimonic wellbeing.

Highlights

Connectedness to nature has been defined as a self-perceived relationship between the self and the natural environment (Schultz et al, 2004); it reflects a feeling of kinship and an affective individual experience of connection with nature (Mayer and Frantz, 2004)
The results indicate that the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) has good psychometric properties, which improved after some items were deleted
The specific results suggested the elimination of items 4, 12, and 14 (“I often feel disconnected from nature,” “When I think of my place on Earth, I consider myself to be a top member of a hierarchy that exists in nature” and “My personal welfare is independent of the welfare of the natural world”; Mayer and Frantz, 2004, p. 513) because of their lower loading weight (Hair et al, 1999) and because the consistency markers of the scale improved after the elimination of these items

Summary

Introduction

Connectedness to nature has been defined as a self-perceived relationship between the self and the natural environment (Schultz et al, 2004); it reflects a feeling of kinship and an affective individual experience of connection with nature (Mayer and Frantz, 2004). In the same way, Kals and Ittner (2003; Kals et al, 1999) describe an emotional affinity with nature as an environmental identity (EID) indicator They suggest that it is based on biophilia, a concept proposed by Wilson (1984) to express the feeling of an emotional link with the natural world, which means an inborn tendency to focus on life processes. Schultz et al (2004) have tackled research on the self-nature relationship by using different measures (the Nature in Self Scale – INS – and the Implicit Association Test – IAT) Another concept considers that in the building of a self-concept, nature and the self are not independent but linked, as the selfconcept comes from a cognitive connection between nature and the self, facilitated by memories of oneself in nature (Thomashow, 1995; Schroeder, 2007; Olivos et al, 2013; Olivos and Clayton, 2017)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion