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Meaning in Life Mediates the Association between Environmental Engagement and Loneliness
Although the positive outcomes of human–environment interactions have been established, research examining the motivation between engagement in pro-environmental activities and psychological well-being is limited. In this mixed-methods study, the relationship between pro-environmental engagement, me...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8000096/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33809010 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062897 |
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author | Jia, Fanli Soucie, Kendall Matsuba, Kyle Pratt, Michael W. |
author_facet | Jia, Fanli Soucie, Kendall Matsuba, Kyle Pratt, Michael W. |
author_sort | Jia, Fanli |
collection | PubMed |
description | Although the positive outcomes of human–environment interactions have been established, research examining the motivation between engagement in pro-environmental activities and psychological well-being is limited. In this mixed-methods study, the relationship between pro-environmental engagement, meaning in life, and well-being, including loneliness and depression, were investigated in a sample of 112 young adults in Canada. It was found that engaging in pro-environmental activities was negatively associated with loneliness. This association was mediated by meaning in life (e.g., an intrinsic motive of caring for future generations). In addition, qualitative analyses explored how engaging in pro-environmental activities has a meaningful impact on meaning in life, and on well-being. A thematic analysis generated three unique themes: (1) responsibility to teach the next generation about the environment, (2) deep appreciation for and connection to nature, and (3) renewed agency through self-directed learning. Overall, findings suggest that meaning in life is a core motive that underlies the association between environmental engagement and loneliness. The present study enriched the relationship between pro-environmentalism and well-being with a mixed-methods perspective. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8000096 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-80000962021-03-28 Meaning in Life Mediates the Association between Environmental Engagement and Loneliness Jia, Fanli Soucie, Kendall Matsuba, Kyle Pratt, Michael W. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Although the positive outcomes of human–environment interactions have been established, research examining the motivation between engagement in pro-environmental activities and psychological well-being is limited. In this mixed-methods study, the relationship between pro-environmental engagement, meaning in life, and well-being, including loneliness and depression, were investigated in a sample of 112 young adults in Canada. It was found that engaging in pro-environmental activities was negatively associated with loneliness. This association was mediated by meaning in life (e.g., an intrinsic motive of caring for future generations). In addition, qualitative analyses explored how engaging in pro-environmental activities has a meaningful impact on meaning in life, and on well-being. A thematic analysis generated three unique themes: (1) responsibility to teach the next generation about the environment, (2) deep appreciation for and connection to nature, and (3) renewed agency through self-directed learning. Overall, findings suggest that meaning in life is a core motive that underlies the association between environmental engagement and loneliness. The present study enriched the relationship between pro-environmentalism and well-being with a mixed-methods perspective. MDPI 2021-03-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8000096/ /pubmed/33809010 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062897 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Jia, Fanli Soucie, Kendall Matsuba, Kyle Pratt, Michael W. Meaning in Life Mediates the Association between Environmental Engagement and Loneliness |
title | Meaning in Life Mediates the Association between Environmental Engagement and Loneliness |
title_full | Meaning in Life Mediates the Association between Environmental Engagement and Loneliness |
title_fullStr | Meaning in Life Mediates the Association between Environmental Engagement and Loneliness |
title_full_unstemmed | Meaning in Life Mediates the Association between Environmental Engagement and Loneliness |
title_short | Meaning in Life Mediates the Association between Environmental Engagement and Loneliness |
title_sort | meaning in life mediates the association between environmental engagement and loneliness |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8000096/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33809010 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062897 |
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