Pathways to Environmental Responsibility
A Qualitative Exploration of the Spiritual Dimension of Nature Experience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v7i2.154Keywords:
nature experience, spirituality, environmental responsibility, worldviews, sustainable development, transformationAbstract
This study aims to generate understanding into the spiritual dimension of nature experience and its relationship to environmental responsibility, as reported in interviews with nature-lovers/environmentalists and spiritual practitioners in Victoria, Canada. As the interviews demonstrate, seeing nature as imbued with meaning, intrinsic value, and/or the sacred seems to engender an increased sense of environmental responsibility. Simultaneously, a natural, evolutionary, this-worldly spirituality tends to lead to a ‘kinship with all life’ ethics. The spiritual nature experience was characterized by three key themes labeled presence, interconnectedness, and selfexpansion. Many participants explained that these experiences informed their worldviews, senses of environmental responsibility, and sometimes career choices. The research thereby illuminates three pathways to a sense of environmental responsibility: profound encounters with nature, contemporary spirituality, and their convergence in spiritual nature experiences. Moreover, the results give an insider’s perspective into the worldview of contemporary nature spirituality, which is claimed to be of increasing importance for sustainable development.
References
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De Hart, J. 2011. Zwevende Gelovigen. Oude Religie en Nieuwe Spiritualiteit [Floating Believers: Old Religion and New Spirituality] (Amsterdam: Bert Bakker).
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Giner, S., and D. Tábara. 1999. ‘Cosmic Piety and Ecological Rationality’, International Sociology 14.1: 59-82. Doi: 10.1177/0268580999014001004.
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Herzog, T.R., A.M. Black, K.A. Fountaine, and D.J. Knotts. 1997. ‘Re_ection and Attentional Recovery as Distinctive Bene_ts of Restorative Environments’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 17: 165-70. Doi: 10.1006/jevp.1997.0051.
Houtman, D., S. Aupers, and P. Heelas. 2009. ‘Christian Religiosity and New Age Spirituality: A Cross-cultural Comparison’, Journal for the Scienti_c Study of Religion 48.1: 161-84. Doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01435_2.x.
Hyland, M.E., P. Wheeler, S. Kamble, and K.S. Masters. 2010. ‘A Sense of “Special Connection”, Self-transcendent Values, and a Common Factor for Religious and Non-religious Spirituality’, Archive for the Psychology of Religion 32: 293-326. Doi: 10.1163/157361210X533265.
Kaplan, S. 1995. ‘The Restorative Bene_ts of Nature: Toward an Integrative Framework’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 15: 169-82. Doi: 10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2.
Kaplan, S., and J.F. Talbot. 1983. ‘Psychological Bene_ts of a Wilderness Experience’, in I. Altman and J.F. Wohlwill (eds.), Behaviour and the Environment: Advances in Theory and Research (New York: Plenum): 163-203.
Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac: With Essays on Conservation from Round River (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Liftin, K. 2009. ‘Reinventing the Future: The Global Ecovillage Movement as a Holistic Knowledge Community’, in G. Kütting and R. Lipschutz (eds.), Environmental Governance: Power and Knowledge in a Local-Global World (Abingdon: Routledge): 124-42.
Mayer, S.F., and C.M. Frantz. 2004. ‘The Connectedness to Nature Scale: A Measure of Individuals’ Feeling in Community with Nature’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 24: 503-15. Doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2004.10.001.
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Moser, S.C., and L. Dilling. 2007. ‘Toward the Social Tipping Point: Creating a Climate for Change’, in S.C. Moser and L. Dilling (eds.), Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 419-516. Doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511535871.035.
Naess, A. 1989. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle: Outline of an Ecosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511525599.
Norton, Bryan G. 1990. Why Preserve Natural Variety? (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Parsons, R., L.G. Tassinary, R.S. Ulrich, M.R. Hebl, and M. Grossman-Alexander. 1998. ‘The View from the Road: Implications for Stress Recovery and Immunization’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 18: 113-39. Doi: 10.1006/jevp.1998.0086.
Partridge, C. 2005. The Re-enchantment of the West: Alternative Spiritualities, Sacralization, Popular Culture, and Occulture, vol. 2 (New York: T&T Clark International).
Plumwood, V. 1993. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (London: Routledge).
Ryan, R.M., and E.L. Deci. 2000. ‘Self-determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social development and Well-being’, American Psychologist 55: 68-78. Doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.
Ryan, R.M., V. Huta, and E.L. Deci. 2008. ‘Living Well: A Self-determination Theory Perspective on Eudaimonia’, Journal of Happiness Studies 9: 139-70. Doi: 10.1007/s10902-006-9023-4.
Seidman, I. 2006. Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences (New York: Teachers College Press, 3rd edn).
Shibley, M.A. 2011. ‘Sacred Nature: Earth-based Spirituality as Popular Religion in the Paci_c Northwest’, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 5: 164-85.
Shove, E., M. Pantzar, and M. Watson. 2012. The Dynamics of Social Practice: Everyday Life and How it Changes (London: Sage).
Talbot, J.F., and S. Kaplan. 1986. ‘Perspectives on Wilderness: Re-examining the Value of Extended Wilderness Experiences’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 6: 177-88. Doi: 10.1016/S0272-4944(86)80021-4.
Taylor, B. 2010. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Terhaar, T.L. 2009. ‘Evolutionary Advantages of Intense Spiritual Experience in Nature’, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 3: 303-39.
Tucker, M.E., and J.A. Grim (eds.). 1994. Worldviews and Ecology: Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment (Cranbury: Associated University Presses).
Ulrich, R.S., R.F. Simons, B.D. Losito, E. Friorito, E.M.A. Miles, and M. Zelson. 1991. ‘Stress Recovery During Exposure to Natural and Urban Environments’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 11: 201-30. Doi: 10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80184-7.
UNESCO. 2002. Growing Up in an Urbanising World (ed. L. Chawla; Paris: UNESCO/Earthscan).
Van den Born, Riyan J.G. 2008. ‘Rethinking Nature: Visions of Nature of a Dutch Public’, Environmental Values 17.1: 83-109. Doi: 10.3197/096327108X271969.
Van Otterloo, A.H. 1999. ‘Self Spirituality and the Body: New Age Centres in The Netherlands since the 1960s’, Social Compass 46: 191-202. Doi: 10.1177/003776899046002008.
Walsh, R. 2011. ‘Lifestyle and Mental Health’, American Psychologist 66.7: 579-92. Doi: 10.1037/a0021769.
Weinstein, N., A.K. Przybylski, and R.M. Ryan. 2009. ‘Can Nature Make Us More Caring? Effects of Immersion in Nature on Intrinsic Aspirations and Generosity’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 35: 1315-29. Doi: 10.1177/0146167209341649.
Williams, K., and D. Harvey. 2001. ‘Transcendent Experience in Forest Environments’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 21: 249-60. Doi: 10.1006/jevp.2001.0204.
Wilson, M. 2011. ‘Encounters with Nature as a Path of Self-Realisation: A Meaning-Making Framework’, Journal of Transpersonal Research 3: 11-29.
Benedikter, R., and M. Molz. 2011. ‘The Rise of Neo-integrative Worldviews: Towards a Rational Spirituality for the Coming Planetary Civilization?’, in M. Hartwig and J. Morgan (eds.), Critical Realism and Spirituality (New York: Routledge): 29-74.
Berry, T. 2009. The Christian Future and the Faith of Earth (eds. M.E. Tucker and J.A. Grim; Maryknoll: Orbis Books).
Brown, K.W., and T. Kasser. 2005. ‘Are Psychological and Ecological Well-being Compatible? The Role of Values, Mindfulness, and Lifestyle’, Social Indicators Research 74: 349-68. Doi: 10.1007/s11205-004-8207-8.
Brown, K.W., and R.M. Ryan. 2003. ‘The Bene_ts of Being Present: Mindfulness and its Role in Psychological Well-being’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84: 822-48. Doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822.
Callicott, J.B. 2011. ‘The Worldview Concept and Aldo Leopold’s Project of “World View” Remediation’, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 5: 510-28.
Campbell, C. 2007. The Easternization of the West: A Thematic Account of Cultural Change in the Modern Era (Boulder: Paradigm Publishers).
Charmaz, K. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis (London: Sage Publications).
Chawla, L. 1998. ‘Signi_cant Life Experiences Revisited: A Review of Research on Sources of Environmental Sensitivity’, Environmental Education Research 4: 369-82. Doi: 10.1080/1350462980040402.
Clark, W.A. 2011. ‘Clarifying the Spiritual Value of Forests and their Role in Sustainable Forest Management’, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 5: 18-38.
Creswell, J.W. 1998. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions (London: Sage Publications).
De Groot, M., and R.J.G. Van den Born. 2007. ‘Humans, Nature and God. Exploring Images of their Interrelationships in Victoria, Canada’, World Views: Environment, Culture, Religion 11: 324-51. Doi: 10.1163/156853507X230582.
De Hart, J. 2011. Zwevende Gelovigen. Oude Religie en Nieuwe Spiritualiteit [Floating Believers: Old Religion and New Spirituality] (Amsterdam: Bert Bakker).
Devall, B., and G. Sessions. 1985. Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered (Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books).
Dutcher, D.D., J.C. Finley, A.E. Luloff, and J.B. Johnson. 2007. ‘Connectivity with Nature as a Measure of Environmental Values’, Environment and Behavior 39: 474-93. Doi: 10.1177/0013916506298794.
Emerson, R.W. 2003 [1849]. Nature and Selected Essays (New York: Penguin Books).
Frantz, C.M., S.F. Mayer, C. Norton, and M. Rock. 2005. ‘There Is No “I” in Nature: The In_uence of Self-awareness on Connectedness to Nature’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 25: 427-36. Doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2005.10.002.
Frederickson, L.M., and D.H. Anderson. 1999. ‘A Qualitative Exploration of the Wilderness Experience as a Source of Spiritual Inspiration’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 19: 21-39. Doi: 10.1006/jevp.1998.0110.
Gibson, J.W. 2009. A Reenchanted World: The Quest for a New Kinship with Nature (New York: Metropolitan Books).
Gifford, R. 2011. ‘The Dragons of Inaction: Psychological Barriers that Limit Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation’, American Psychologist 66.4: 290-302. Doi: 10.1037/a0023566.
Giner, S., and D. Tábara. 1999. ‘Cosmic Piety and Ecological Rationality’, International Sociology 14.1: 59-82. Doi: 10.1177/0268580999014001004.
Gosling, F., and K.J.H. Williams. 2010. ‘Connectedness to Nature, Place Attachment and Conservation Behaviour: Testing Connectedness Theory among Farmers’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 30: 298-304. Doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.01.005.
Habermas, J. 2010. ‘An Awareness of What Is Missing’, in J. Habermas et al. (eds.), An Awareness of What Is Missing: Faith and Reason in a Post-Secular Age (Cambridge: Polity Press): 15-23.
Hanegraaff, W. 1996. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Western Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought (New York: State University of New York Press).
Hedlund-de Witt, A. 2011. ‘The Rising Culture and Worldview of Contemporary Spirituality: A Sociological Study of Potentials and Pitfalls for Sustainable Development’, Ecological Economics 70: 1057-65. Doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.01.020.
———. 2012. ‘Exploring Worldviews and their Relationships to Sustainable Lifestyles: Towards a New Conceptual and Methodological Approach’, Ecological Economics 84: 74-83. Doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.09.009.
Heelas, P. 1996. The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers).
Heelas, P., and L. Woodhead. 2005. The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion Is Giving Way to Spirituality (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing).
Herzog, T.R., A.M. Black, K.A. Fountaine, and D.J. Knotts. 1997. ‘Re_ection and Attentional Recovery as Distinctive Bene_ts of Restorative Environments’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 17: 165-70. Doi: 10.1006/jevp.1997.0051.
Houtman, D., S. Aupers, and P. Heelas. 2009. ‘Christian Religiosity and New Age Spirituality: A Cross-cultural Comparison’, Journal for the Scienti_c Study of Religion 48.1: 161-84. Doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01435_2.x.
Hyland, M.E., P. Wheeler, S. Kamble, and K.S. Masters. 2010. ‘A Sense of “Special Connection”, Self-transcendent Values, and a Common Factor for Religious and Non-religious Spirituality’, Archive for the Psychology of Religion 32: 293-326. Doi: 10.1163/157361210X533265.
Kaplan, S. 1995. ‘The Restorative Bene_ts of Nature: Toward an Integrative Framework’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 15: 169-82. Doi: 10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2.
Kaplan, S., and J.F. Talbot. 1983. ‘Psychological Bene_ts of a Wilderness Experience’, in I. Altman and J.F. Wohlwill (eds.), Behaviour and the Environment: Advances in Theory and Research (New York: Plenum): 163-203.
Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac: With Essays on Conservation from Round River (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Liftin, K. 2009. ‘Reinventing the Future: The Global Ecovillage Movement as a Holistic Knowledge Community’, in G. Kütting and R. Lipschutz (eds.), Environmental Governance: Power and Knowledge in a Local-Global World (Abingdon: Routledge): 124-42.
Mayer, S.F., and C.M. Frantz. 2004. ‘The Connectedness to Nature Scale: A Measure of Individuals’ Feeling in Community with Nature’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 24: 503-15. Doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2004.10.001.
McFague, S. 2008. A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming (Minneapolis: Fortress Press).
McKenzie-Mohr, D., and W. Smith. 2008. Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-based Social Marketing (Gabriola Island: New Society).
Moser, S.C., and L. Dilling. 2007. ‘Toward the Social Tipping Point: Creating a Climate for Change’, in S.C. Moser and L. Dilling (eds.), Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press): 419-516. Doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511535871.035.
Naess, A. 1989. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle: Outline of an Ecosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511525599.
Norton, Bryan G. 1990. Why Preserve Natural Variety? (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Parsons, R., L.G. Tassinary, R.S. Ulrich, M.R. Hebl, and M. Grossman-Alexander. 1998. ‘The View from the Road: Implications for Stress Recovery and Immunization’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 18: 113-39. Doi: 10.1006/jevp.1998.0086.
Partridge, C. 2005. The Re-enchantment of the West: Alternative Spiritualities, Sacralization, Popular Culture, and Occulture, vol. 2 (New York: T&T Clark International).
Plumwood, V. 1993. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (London: Routledge).
Ryan, R.M., and E.L. Deci. 2000. ‘Self-determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social development and Well-being’, American Psychologist 55: 68-78. Doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.
Ryan, R.M., V. Huta, and E.L. Deci. 2008. ‘Living Well: A Self-determination Theory Perspective on Eudaimonia’, Journal of Happiness Studies 9: 139-70. Doi: 10.1007/s10902-006-9023-4.
Seidman, I. 2006. Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences (New York: Teachers College Press, 3rd edn).
Shibley, M.A. 2011. ‘Sacred Nature: Earth-based Spirituality as Popular Religion in the Paci_c Northwest’, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 5: 164-85.
Shove, E., M. Pantzar, and M. Watson. 2012. The Dynamics of Social Practice: Everyday Life and How it Changes (London: Sage).
Talbot, J.F., and S. Kaplan. 1986. ‘Perspectives on Wilderness: Re-examining the Value of Extended Wilderness Experiences’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 6: 177-88. Doi: 10.1016/S0272-4944(86)80021-4.
Taylor, B. 2010. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Terhaar, T.L. 2009. ‘Evolutionary Advantages of Intense Spiritual Experience in Nature’, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 3: 303-39.
Tucker, M.E., and J.A. Grim (eds.). 1994. Worldviews and Ecology: Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment (Cranbury: Associated University Presses).
Ulrich, R.S., R.F. Simons, B.D. Losito, E. Friorito, E.M.A. Miles, and M. Zelson. 1991. ‘Stress Recovery During Exposure to Natural and Urban Environments’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 11: 201-30. Doi: 10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80184-7.
UNESCO. 2002. Growing Up in an Urbanising World (ed. L. Chawla; Paris: UNESCO/Earthscan).
Van den Born, Riyan J.G. 2008. ‘Rethinking Nature: Visions of Nature of a Dutch Public’, Environmental Values 17.1: 83-109. Doi: 10.3197/096327108X271969.
Van Otterloo, A.H. 1999. ‘Self Spirituality and the Body: New Age Centres in The Netherlands since the 1960s’, Social Compass 46: 191-202. Doi: 10.1177/003776899046002008.
Walsh, R. 2011. ‘Lifestyle and Mental Health’, American Psychologist 66.7: 579-92. Doi: 10.1037/a0021769.
Weinstein, N., A.K. Przybylski, and R.M. Ryan. 2009. ‘Can Nature Make Us More Caring? Effects of Immersion in Nature on Intrinsic Aspirations and Generosity’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 35: 1315-29. Doi: 10.1177/0146167209341649.
Williams, K., and D. Harvey. 2001. ‘Transcendent Experience in Forest Environments’, Journal of Environmental Psychology 21: 249-60. Doi: 10.1006/jevp.2001.0204.
Wilson, M. 2011. ‘Encounters with Nature as a Path of Self-Realisation: A Meaning-Making Framework’, Journal of Transpersonal Research 3: 11-29.
Published
2013-08-08
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Hedlund-de Witt, A. (2013). Pathways to Environmental Responsibility: A Qualitative Exploration of the Spiritual Dimension of Nature Experience. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 7(2), 154-186. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v7i2.154
