Preschool children's affinity towards nature (biophilia) and their parents' and teachers' connectedness to the nature

Abstract

One of the most important steps in solving today's environmental problems that affect both human welfare and the lives of other living things is to identify the determinants of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours of the human species, which has the strongest impact on nature. So the aim of the study is to examine the relationship between preschool children's affinity towards nature (biophilia) and their mothers', fathers' and teachers' connectedness to nature. A total of 298 children, their parents and teachers participated in the study. This research was conducted in a province located in the northwestern part of Turkey. The results indicated that there is a relationship between teachers' connectedness to nature scores and children's affinity towards nature scores, but there is no relationship between parents' connectedness to nature scores and children's scores. As a result of the regression analysis, it was determined that teachers' level of connectedness to nature was a predictor of children's affinity towards nature.