Significant Life Experiences Research Articles

Significant life experiences on the formation of environmental action among Chinese college students

Determining the factors that influence young adults’ engagement in environmental action is critical to further developing their active and important participation in environmental issues. In this paper, we designed two studies to identify life experiences of Chinese college students that foster environmental action. In Study 1, we used an open-ended survey to ask 34 young environmentally active citizens about the life experiences influencing their current engagement in environmental protection. In Study 2, we developed a significant life experience scale based on the results of Study 1 and recruited junior and senior students from seven universities to participate in an online questionnaire. We analyzed 606 valid questionnaires to understand whether the significant life experiences identified in Study 1 can distinguish environmentally committed students from other students and to what extent the significant life experiences can predict environmental action. Our results suggest that environmental organizations, college education, natural experiences and life principles could be important factors influencing the formation of environmental action, while other life experiences may also contribute to this process.

Role of Significant Life Experiences in Building Environmental Knowledge and Behavior Among Middle School Students

Significant life experience research suggests that the presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time outdoors with behavior and a negative association between watching nature television and environmental knowledge. The strongest predictors of environmental knowledge and behavior were student/teacher ratio and county income levels, respectively. We also found that Native Americans engaged in environmental behaviors more than Caucasians, and that African American and Hispanic students had lower levels of environmental knowledge. Accordingly, life experiences appear less important than promoting small class sizes and addressing challenges associated with lower incomes in schools.

Significant life experiences and environmental justice: positionality and the significance of negative social/environmental experiences

Significant life experiences (SLE) research has been criticized for a disproportionate focus on privileged groups and positive experiences. In this paper, I use textual analysis to examine the SLEs within the Environmental Justice (EJ) literature. Theoretically, I blend feminist theory, the sociology of disaster, and research on EJ motives for activism to advance the notion of social/environmental positionality and marginality, characterized by toxic social/environmental relationships. Findings reveal that EJ activists describe the experience of EJ as three SLEs: the recognition of their social/environmental marginality, the embodied knowledge produced from their experiences, and the empowerment that comes from working with others in a community for EJ. These findings are compared to more traditional SLE’s and I conclude with a discussion about the importance of positionality and negative experiences for SLE research.

Learning experiences that produce environmentally active and informed minds

This study provides evidence of the significant life experiences that have influenced teachers’ attitudes towards the environment and present their teaching practices within environmental education. Three groups of teachers (preschool, primary school and biology), working in preschools and in nine-year long compulsory basic schools in Slovenia completed questionnaires. Findings were generalised against bodies of research discussing significant life experiences and recomendations concerning environmental education improvement. Enjoyment of the outdoors, especially in the childhood, attitudes of parents, life in the countryside, experiences with animals and plants, solitude of remote places, education and experiencing negative environmental changes, all had an influence on the teachers’ care for nature. Experiences with organisms and education were more influential life experiences for biology teachers then for preschool or primary school teachers. Teachers emphasised four teaching practices important for environmental education: direct experience of nature, discussions about environmental problems, active participation of students in environmental activities and the importance of teachers as role models. The importance of student's inter-active participation in environmental activities has been under-emphasized, particularly among biology teachers. They have encouraged them to analyze and discuss environmental problems rather than to empower them in the extension of collective pro-environmental actions, which would provide them with necessary experiences in governing processes enabling them to take an active societal role.

A Subjective Academic Narrative: Practice-Led Research and Indigenous postgraduate opportunities

The methodology of this paper continues the work I have done writing the ‘subjective academic narrative’ for publication within refereed academic journals. Storytelling is a basic human activity and the academy since the mid 20 th century has begun to see its value rather than use it as the non-academic side of the dichotomy between thought and reason and feeling and emotion that the Enlightenment left as its residue of academic thought and knowledge. I use this methodology to enter into the privileged academic discussion and to add to it regarding the relationship of Indigenous knowledge to the academy that remains a challenge in Australian Universities in this postmodern and postcolonial moment. This paper recognises the need to open discussion about how Indigenous people might be facilitated within the academy to bring their knowledge-models into the university and its traditional dominant knowledge systems. This paper looks at Practice Led Research (PLR) as a possible pathway for supporting the transition of Indigenous community scholars into university postgraduate courses. It explores how PLR contributes to an appropriate entry point into postgraduate studies for some Indigenous students who have significant life experiences and narratives and/or productions of artefacts that act to replace the breadth of undergraduate credentials. This paper identifies and explicates a nexus between Practice Led Research and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and Recognition of Current Competencies (RCC). In doing so, it provides a reference point for University protocols and practices regarding RPL and RCC. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v2i1.1715

The Role of Scripts in Psychological Maladjustment and Psychotherapy

This article considers the value of script theory for understanding psychological maladjustment and psychotherapy. Scripts are implicit expectations that individuals develop to understand and deal with emotionally significant life experiences. Script theory provides a way to understand the complex patterns of thinking, feeling, and behavior that characterize personal consistency, as well as a way to address personality development and change. As such it is a vital model for understanding both personality and clinical phenomena. The article begins by describing script theory and noting similar models in personality and clinical psychology. It then outlines both idiographic and nomothetic methods for assessing scripts and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each. A survey of the author's program of research follows, using a nomothetic method to examine the role of interpersonal scripts in psychological maladjustment and psychotherapy. The article concludes by presenting a promising method for future research synthesizing idiographic and nomothetic approaches and raising important questions for future research on the role of scripts in psychological maladjustment and psychotherapy.

Information literacy challenges for Chinese PhD students in Australia:

This study explored the information literacy (IL) development of international higher degree research (HDR) students from China as they undertook their research studies in an Australian university. International HDR students need advanced IL skills to complete their research degree. However, IL research and training in western countries has tended to regard international HDR students no differently from their undergraduate counterparts. That is, there has been a focus on basic information skills rather than considering the more complicated and advanced IL needs within a research context. The project presented in this paper aimed to explore this gap. Three international PhD students from China participated in this research. A biographical approach was used to collect the data, and a total of 222 reflective accounts were collected from the participants over a period of fifteen months. In these reflections, they recorded significant life and study experiences at the University of Western Sydney. This approach allowed the participants freedom to express their thoughts and feelings without interruption and enabled them to speak frankly and freely without prejudice. The approach to data analysis underpinning this study was based on Bruce’s (1997) relational model of IL. The findings indicate that these international HDR students experience significant difficulties in developing their IL skills during their research studies in their western university. The complex nature of research study, which demands high levels of IL, significantly contributes to these difficulties, as do the different language and culture of international students which pose additional challenges to their information use. This article concludes with recommendations for research supervisors and librarians to consider in the provision of IL education for international students.

Adolescent turning points: The association between meaning-making and psychological well-being.

Research findings indicate that the ability to create meaning out of turning points (i.e., significant life experiences) is related to psychological well-being. It is not clear, however, whether individuals who report meaning-making and higher well-being are better adjusted prior to the experience of their turning point event. This study examined whether meaning-making and timing of turning points would be associated with higher scores on well-being. Participants were 418 Grade 12 students (209 of whom reported having had a turning point event and a matched group of 209 adolescents who did not report having had a turning point event). This subset of participants was taken from a larger longitudinal study of 803 (52% female) Grade 12 Canadian students (M age = 17 years). All participants completed well-being measures 3 years prior, when they were in Grade 9. Meaning-making was significantly associated with higher psychological well-being, controlling for Grade 9 scores on well-being. Importantly, adolescents who reported meaning-making in Grade 12 did not differ on well-being prior to the experience of their turning point event, when they were in Grade 9, from adolescents who did not report meaning-making. These findings highlight the importance of examining meaning-making in relation to positive adjustment among adolescents reporting a significant life-changing event. Limitations regarding the use of survey measures and the generalizability of the results to a culturally diverse group of adolescents are discussed.

Factors Influencing Adults’ Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors and the Role of Environmental Schools in Influencing Their Communities

The present study revisits a subfield of environmental education: significant life experiences, which studies the influences that shape the development of environmental stewardship. In the present study, we examine the effect of various formative experiences on a group of adults and analyze the role of school, as a formative influence on the parents of the students. By employing factor analysis, we were able to differentiate between groups of variables influencing attitudes and those influencing behavior. Cluster analysis enabled us to differentiate between types of respondents in accordance to their responsiveness to influencing experiences. The results draw attention to (a) the different pathways by which environmental attitudes and behaviors are influenced; (b) the important role of the inner self (“personality”) in organizing and giving meaning to all other formative influences; and (c) the effectiveness of environmental schools in urban communities in Israel, in influencing the behavior of students’ parents.

On Disruption of Fear Memory by Reconsolidation Blockade: Evidence from Cannabidiol Treatment

The search for reconsolidation blockers may uncover clinically relevant drugs for disrupting memories of significant stressful life experiences, such as those underlying the posttraumatic stress disorder. Considering the safety of systemically administered cannabidiol (CBD), the major non-psychotomimetic component of Cannabis sativa, to animals and humans, the present study sought to investigate whether and how this phytocannabinoid (3-30 mg/kg intraperitoneally; i.p.) could mitigate an established memory, by blockade of its reconsolidation, evaluated in a contextual fear-conditioning paradigm in rats. We report that CBD is able to disrupt 1- and 7-days-old memories when administered immediately, but not 6 h, after their retrieval for 3 min, with the dose of 10 mg/kg being the most effective. This effect persists in either case for at least 1 week, but is prevented when memory reactivation was omitted, or when the cannabinoid type-1 receptors were antagonized selectively with AM251 (1.0 mg/kg). Pretreatment with the serotonin type-1A receptor antagonist WAY100635, however, failed to block CBD effects. These results highlight that recent and older fear memories are equally vulnerable to disruption induced by CBD through reconsolidation blockade, with a consequent long-lasting relief in contextual fear-induced freezing. Importantly, this CBD effect is dependent on memory reactivation, restricted to time window of <6 h, and is possibly dependent on cannabinoid type-1 receptor-mediated signaling mechanisms. We also observed that the fear memories disrupted by CBD treatment do not show reinstatement or spontaneous recovery over 22 days. These findings support the view that reconsolidation blockade, rather than facilitated extinction, accounts for the aforementioned CBD results in our experimental conditions.

Space to Romp and Roam and How It May Promote Land Conservation

ABSTRACT: This study examined the significant life experiences (SLE) of individuals who had placed conservation easements on private property. Specifically, this study explored how early life experiences may impact one's conservation ethic to effect decisions on land protection. The researchers utilized a sequential embedded mixed methods research design, relying on both qualitative and quantitative data in order to develop an understanding of the phenomenon. All participants for this study were individuals who had placed a conservation easement on her or his property in Indiana. The mixed method analysis indicates that individual and informal experiences in and about the outdoors had the greatest perceived impact and were significantly different than more formalized experiences among the study's participants. The discussion focuses on the impact of informal experiences in the outdoors and the impact on the self-perceived development of conservation ethics as significant life experiences pertaining to con...

Sexual Orientation Victimization and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

This cross-sectional study utilized data gathered from 350 lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth, and examined the relationship between significant life experiences and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PSS), with an ultimate goal of analyzing contribution of sexual orientation victimization (SOV) to PSS among LGB youth. Results of bivariate analyses indicate that verbal and physical sexual orientation victimization, childhood gender atypicality, internalized homophobia, and stressful life events unrelated to sexual orientation were all individually related to PSS. Multivariate analysis showed that verbal and physical sexual orientation victimization explained a significant portion of variance, over and above the study's other variables. Internalized homophobia, stressful life events, and verbal sexual orientation victimization were found to be the most significant predictors of PSS among LGB youth.

Communicating College Learning Through Noncourse Matching: An Approach to Writing the Prior Learning Assessment Essay

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) brings students into active and reflective engagement with significant life experiences at the nexus of academic and nonacademic cultures. When done successfully, PL...

少年期の組織キャンプにおけるSignificant Life Experiencesが成人期の環境行動に及ぼす影響

少年期の組織キャンプにおけるSignificant Life Experiencesが成人期の環境行動に及ぼす影響

“Homeless is What I Am, Not Who I Am”: Insights from an Inner-City Brisbane Study

This article argues that some homelessness literature has tended to place too great an emphasis on homelessness as a defining characteristic of people who are homeless. As such, ‘homeless people’ are not only defined as the ‘other’ based on what they lack, but they have become depersonalised. This misconception may have been facilitated by research that has considered homelessness an isolated phenomenon, or because of a reliance on research methods that have failed to directly engage with people experiencing homelessness. This article reports on research using ethnographic methods with people who were homeless in inner-city Brisbane. Research participants largely acknowledged their homelessness, but contextualised it as both symptomatic of, and subordinate to, other far more significant life experiences. Also, no participant in this study perceived their homelessness as defining their identities, either their personal or social identities. Instead, people defined themselves with reference to family, and other life experiences or activities.

From Play in Nature, to Recreation then Vocation: A Developmental Model for Natural History-Oriented Environmental Professionals

Much research on environmental socialization and significant life experiences indicates the primacy of childhood play in wild environments in shaping later adult interest in wild places. Less is known about what happens after childhood. This study investigated the remembered childhood, teen and early adult years of young adults (age 19 to 35) involved with natural history professions and/or highly committed hobbyists, identified as exceptional by environmental leaders. A comparison group of disinterested individuals nominated by the same environmental leaders or identified through a screening questionnaire provided an additional contrast. A four-stage descriptive model emerged from the qualitative data. Participants' natural history involvement evolved from unstructured nature play, to structured recreation and school activities, eventually to natural history dominant professional and serious leisure identities. Results suggest that accumulation of experiences, a complementary interplay of nature-based recreation and formal nature study, interaction with different types of mentors in each stage, evolving environmentally focused activities and exploration of perceptual, physical and intellectual aspects of the environment are key components.

Significant life experiences affect environmental action: a confirmation study in eastern Taiwan

Two field studies form the basis of this article. The major purposes of Study 1 were to examine significant life experiences affecting the cultivation of environmental activists in eastern Taiwan, and to reconstruct the life paths followed by those active people who engaged in effective environmental action. 40 usable autobiographical memories were collected and content‐analysed to derive 17 significant life experiences. Based on the 17 accounts, a quantitative questionnaire of 24 items on significant life experiences variables was developed for Study 2. Four hundred and thirty valid questionnaires were analysed. Eighty two respondents with a high level of environmental action were determined to be environmental activists, and 153 with a low level of environmental action were determined to be people apathetic towards environmental protection. It was found that the significant life experiences identified in Study 1 could effectively distinguish environmentally committed people from those apathetic to environmental protection. Study 2 also found that 54.6% of the variances in environmental actions could be explained by the significant life experiences.

Potentials and Challenges of Research on “Significant Life Experiences” in Japan

“Significant life experiences” (SLE) is a research area of environmental education that aims to identify formative influences in the lives of individuals who demonstrate “responsible environmental behavior.” We chose 188 environmental educators as the subjects for the first research of this kind in Japan, along with 25 subjects from users of a community center as a control group. In workshops and interviews, we asked about subjects' environmental behavior and formative experiences. Differences were found between the most frequent responses of the environmental educators and those of the control group. In addition, in follow-up interviews, 12 environmental educators reported that they spent many hours in natural areas accessible on a daily basis in their childhood and youth. Some of them suggested that there are two types of SLE: “fundamental SLE” and “directly influential SLE.” The former are the experiences that form environmental sensitivity in childhood and youth. The latter are the experiences that trigger environmental actions later in life.

The Significant Life Experiences (SLEs) of Humane Educators

AbstractThis study provides evidence of the significant life experiences (SLEs), which influence advocates for nonhuman animals to develop sensitivity toward animals. Thirty-nine humane educators participated in an online survey. Findings indicate that having a relationship with a companion animal in adulthood is the most important life experience, followed by having a childhood experience with an animal, being exposed to a positive role model in childhood, and reading about animals and animal issues. The study did not find age and gender related differences in life experiences. This paper compares the results from this study to two previous studies. The first study examined the SLEs of animal advocate leaders through analysis of autobiographies, biographies, oral histories, and written interviews. The second study examined the SLEs of animal rescuers through an open-ended survey. This paper discusses similarities and differences among these three groups.

Do You Look to the Future or Focus on Today? The Impact of Life Experience on Intertemporal Decisions

In this research, we investigate the impact of significant life experiences on intertemporal decisions among young adults. A series of experiments focus specifically on the impact of experiencing the death of a close other by cancer. We show that such an experience, which bears information about time, is associated with making decisions that favor the long-term future over short-term interests (Studies 1 and 2). Underlying this effect appears to be increased salience and concreteness regarding one's future life course, shifting focus away from the present toward the long run (Studies 3 and 4). Finally, we explore the shift caused by a cancer death of a public figure and examine its stability over time (Study 5). Implications for research on intertemporal decision making and the impact of life events on perceptions and preferences are discussed.