The relationship between children's perceptions of the natural environment and their subjective well-being

The overarching aim of the study was to ascertain the relationship between children's perceptions of the natural environment and their subjective well-being. More specifically the study aimed to fit a structural model depicting the nature of the relationship between children's environmental views and their global, and domain-specific life satisfaction. The sample included 1004 twelve-year-old participants randomly selected from 15 primary schools in Cape Town, South Africa. The measuring instrument included the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale for children, the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale and the Personal Well-Being Index-School Children. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the validity of the NEP Scale which showed appropriate fit structure. A good fit structure was also found for the overall structural equation model. However, the overall model showed that children's environmental views were not related to their global life and domain-specific life satisfaction. At a foundational level, more research is required to allow for a better understanding of how children in differing circumstances construct and assign meaning to nature, and what their perceptions of nature are before we can begin to ask them when, how or why they engage in nature.     

Children's perceptions of the natural environment: a South African perspective

This qualitative study explored the ways in which adolescents perceive the natural environment. Focus group interviews were conducted with 32 participants between the ages of 13 and 14 attending a school in a low-income area in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The findings revealed five key meanings which emerged from the themes the participants discussed, i.e. nature as a threatened place, ‘culture of inconsideration’ towards nature, nature as external to the self, nature as the dangerous other, and intrinsic care for nature. Nature as the dangerous other persisted as an overarching meaning which emerged from the participants' responses. Thus, the participants perceived the natural environment through the lens of safety as natural areas in their community are characterised by crime, violence, and pollution.