Abstract

Contact with nature has been increasingly recognized as enhancing human well-being and health. Less is known about how people perceive and define the effects of nature in their everyday lives. This study examines conceptions of the relation between nature and happiness offered by 15- to 16-year-olds in Finland, which has been reported to be “the happiest country in the world.” The data consist of thematic writings (N = 184). The results show that most of the participants agreed that nature makes them happy or associated only positive characteristics with nature. One fourth of the participants had an ambivalent stance on the topic, while a small minority did not see any connection between happiness and nature. Happiness was connected to opportunities that nature offered for physical activity, and emotional and cognitive renewal. To prevent polarization in relation to nature, special efforts should be made to support outdoor recreation for adolescents.

摘要

人们越来越认识到与大自然的接触可以增强人类的福祉和健康。人们对日常生活中如何感知和定义自然的影响知之甚少。这项研究探讨了芬兰 15 至 16 岁青少年对自然与幸福之间关系的看法，据报道，芬兰是“世界上最幸福的国家”。数据由专题著作组成 (N = 184)。结果显示，大多数参与者都认为自然使他们快乐，或者只将积极的特征与自然联系在一起。四分之一的参与者对这个话题持矛盾的立场，而一小部分人则认为幸福与自然之间没有任何联系。幸福与大自然提供的身体活动、情感和认知更新的机会有关。