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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1400655
This article is part of the Research Topic Climate Change Challenge: Adaptation to Climate Change View all 12 articles

Embodied Earth Kinship: Interoceptive awareness and relational attachment personal factors predict nature connectedness in a structural model of nature connection

Provisionally accepted
Lindsay Branham Lindsay Branham 1,2*
  • 1 University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • 2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Previous research has found that nature connectedness, an experiential close connection to nature with cognitive, affective and physical benefits, profoundly impacts individual wellbeing and subsequently increases pro-environmental behaviours. However, little is known about the personal and contextual factors that predict nature connectedness. Testing theory derived from a qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis study, this research addresses the lacuna in the literature. A structural equation model analysis finds that interoceptive awareness significantly predicts nature connection, that secure attachment to nature significantly explains this relationship, and that these inter-related constructs predict both pro-environmental behaviour and wellbeing. This revised model of nature connection indicates important antecedents for the human-nature bond, illuminating in particular that the interpersonal relational processes foundational for close bonding with humans also occur in bonding with nature. Structural equation modelling indicates that emotional awareness is the dimension of interoceptive awareness that most significantly predicts nature connection, suggesting that the more aware a person is of the connection between inner bodily sensations and emotions, the more likely they can bond with nature. Given that interoceptive awareness indicates a coherent relationship with the self, including effective communication between body, mind and feelings, this process is therefore implicated in the capacity for humans to bond with nature. In sum, this present research points to the efficacy of an embodied, secure attachment with nature to help close both the human-nature disconnection chasm, and the environmental value-action gap. Theoretical and methodological implications for research and policy are discussed.

    Keywords: Nature connection, Body awareness, Relational attachment, Interoceptive Awareness, Climate Change, social and ecological justice, Connectedness

    Received: 13 Mar 2024; Accepted: 19 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Branham. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lindsay Branham, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.