Abstract

There have been many studies conducted in the realm of nature that look at explanations behind human beings’ tendency to revert to nature as a way to relieve themselves from the real world while giving them feelings of well-being and positive emotions for a place. This study aimed to explore how humans feel more presence while also using this information to explore a more nature-oriented environment and the influence this has on human behavior. The present study is determining whether engaging with affordances of nature increase an individuals’ sense of presence. It was hypothesized that individuals that spend more time immersed in nature and interacting with its many affordances would also be more inclined to experience positive psychological outcomes that were similarly reported by Kleiman (2017). In this study, the targeted participant group consisted of undergraduate students that were at the time attending the University of Central Florida (UCF) during the Fall 2019 semester. Surveys were administered to 238 participants through the use of Qualtrics. The scales that were utilized included the Nature Presence Scale (Kleiman 2017; 19 Witmer & Singer, 1998), the Nature Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), the Nature Affiliation Questionnaire, (Crombag, 1968), the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges,1994), Five-Factor Inventory (John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991), and demographics that included questions for gender, age, race, income, major, and others regarding an individual’s amount of engagement in nature and their participation in natural environments and pro-conservation behaviors. Data analysis from SPSS revealed that statistically significant relationships were found between several variables. The variable for presence was significantly positively correlated with nature engagement, nature affiliation, optimism, and nature activation. Overall, it can be noted that nature provides opportunities for individuals to engage with it and can lead them to gain a sense of presence, making them more affiliated with it, helping them feel more optimistic, and motivate them to participate in pro-conservation behaviors.

Thesis Completion

2020

Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair/Advisor

McConnell, Daniel S.

Co-Chair

Smither, Janan A.

Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Clinical Psychology

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Release Date

5-1-2020

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