A Survey of the Relevant Research
The research on the psychological bond of humans with the natural environment, the subject of ecopsychology, is still in its infancy. The earliest attempts to study nature as a psychological factor came from the related area of deep ecology, founded by Naess and further advanced by Devall and Sessions (1985, 2021) and Mattews (2001). More than other types of eco-philosophy, deep ecology pays attention to the experience of nature and its spiritual value. The idea of a broad synthesis of ecology and psychology was proposed by Theodore Roszak, who introduced the new approach in The Voice of the Earth (2001). Since then, several books and articles on the subject have been published, with significant contributions such as Contesting Earth's Future: (Zimmerman, 1994). A series of relevant articles on ecopsychology appeared in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology in 2001.
Despite these courageous and fruitful attempts, the fundamental question 'In which way does the natural environment influence humans and what is the role of nature for the human psyche?’ is still open. The urge to address this question was the primary reason for the Eifel case study. The methodology of this study was taken from the study of Patterson, et al. (1998) and White, D., & Hendee, J. (2000). The methodology included a series of assignments on the perception of nature (the exercises are described in the attachment). Experiences were noted by participants in personal diaries which we used later for analysis.
There are many trustworthy claims that contact with nature has positive effects on human subjective well-being and that it is of essential psychological and spiritual value. For instance, the book The Last Child in the Woods (2005) argues that the experience of nature is vital for healthy child development, while the deficit of nature is linked to issues such as obesity, attention disorders, and depression. However, there is a need for more support and theoretical explanation for this phenomenon. As a contribution to fill these gaps, I conducted this qualitative study.
Questions and Goals of This Study
The aim of this study is firstly, to extend and elaborate methods of environmental education, specifically the exercises on nature-connection —techniques for focusing awareness. Some of them, i.e. gestalt practices, were introduced by the author, and others suggested by Michel Cohen (1997). One can see the entire list of practices described in the Appendix in a replicable form.
Secondly, the study intended to explore the psychological effects of short-term awareness of wilderness on one's subjective well-being (Diener & Suh, 2000) and one's sense of the meaning of life. It is based on the more general hypothesis that there are positive relationships between the experience of wilderness and the development of the self, feelings of community, and spiritual development (White Hendee, 1999). I restricted the study of the psychological effects of nature to two variables (subjective well-being and the sense of meaning in life
The study aimed at:
- (i)
testing the hypothesis that there are positive effects of the awareness of wilderness on the subjective sense of well-being and meaning in life.
- (ii)
understanding the nature of the psychological need for wilderness.
Although there is a substantial amount of data on the psychological benefits of nature, (Fisher, A. (2002), Riley, M. F., & Hendee, J.C, (1999), R, White, D., & Hendee, J. (2000), Young, R. & Crandall, R. (1984) Wicks C, Barton J, Orbell S, Andrews L. (2022), we still lack theory that explains the findings. This chapter aims to contribute to such a theory.
Further, nature reconnection boosts personal development, making it a part and parcel of holistic education. Hence, eco-psychology is directly related to educational experiences, as discussed by Robbins, J. (2020), Toth, N., Little, L., Read, J. C., Fitton, D., & Horton, M. (2013)., Miao, R. E. & Cagle, N. L. (2020), Johnstone, C. (2020).
This case study aims specifically at the effects of nature on the sense of well-being and meaning in life as applicable to environmental education.