This study deals with human relationship to nature and the positive influence of nature on selected aspects of his/her quality of life, primarily on life satisfaction and meaningfulness of life. The research study consists of quantitative and qualitative survey. The research sample consists of 171 respondents aged from 18 to 25 years. The quantitative part of research focuses on mapping the relationship between degrees of human connectedness to nature and measures of life satisfaction, meaningfulness of life, rumination, reflection, actual level of the contact with nature and the location where respondents grew up for most of their childhood, be it rural, suburban or urban. We used methods Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS), Meaning in Life Scale (MLS), and Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ). Obtained data were analysed by both parametric and distribution-free tests. Besides other things, the results show that the level of connectedness to nature correlates moderately strongly with reflection and they both together predict meaningfulness of life independently of the influence on life satisfaction. In the qualitative part of the study, answers to the question, what the natural world means to young people are given.
Journal of Indian Health Psychology Vol. 7, No. 2, March, 2013