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Self, Nature and Well-Being: Sense of Connectedness and Environmental Identity for Quality of Life

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Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life ((IHQL))

Abstract

One of the most important personal challenges in our society is the construction of positive and lasting self-identities (e.g. Gergen 1991; Giddens 1991; Ryan and Deci 2003; Taylor 1989). The study of self and identity is also an important subject of research in social sciences, because of its cultural, social and psychological relevance, and because it is a field in which some theoretical and conceptual controversies persist (e.g. Fiske et al. 2010; Leary and Tangney 2012; Schwartz et al. 2011). Although the environment is a key factor in the development of identities, investigation into identity’s relationship with natural environments is still fairly new. Environmental psychology has a long tradition of studying bonds between built environments and self or identity, but only in the last 15 years has research begun to consider the role of nature in the construction of self and well-being. Restoration theory has been used to explain most of the cognitive benefits of nature, but focusing only on these misses some of the important mechanisms through which it has a positive impact. This chapter develops the main theoretical and operative concepts that have been raised in the research on self and nature. At the same time, the research that connects these concepts with well-being studies and quality of life is reviewed. Finally, the role of the natural environment in self, identity studies and well-being is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain

    Pablo Olivos

  2. School of Labor Relations & Human Resources, Plaza de la Universidad, 02071, Albacete, Spain

    Pablo Olivos

  3. Psychology Department, College of Wooster, 930 College Mall, Wooster, Ohio, 44691, USA

    Susan Clayton

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  1. Faculty of Psychology, University of Nantes, Nantes, France

    Ghozlane Fleury-Bahi

  2. Department of Social Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Enric Pol

  3. Faculty of Psychology, University of Nantes, Nantes, France

    Oscar Navarro

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Olivos, P., Clayton, S. (2017). Self, Nature and Well-Being: Sense of Connectedness and Environmental Identity for Quality of Life. In: Fleury-Bahi, G., Pol, E., Navarro, O. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31416-7_6

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