Exposure and connectedness to natural environments: An examination of the measurement invariance of the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) and Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups

Detachment from nature is contributing to the environmental crisis and reversing this trend requires detailed
\nmonitoring and targeted interventions to reconnect people to nature. Most tools measuring nature exposure and
\nattachment were developed in high-income countries and little is known about their robustness across national
\nand linguistic groups. Therefore, we used data from the Body Image in Nature Survey to assess measurement
\ninvariance of the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) and the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) across 65 nations,
\n40 languages, gender identities, and age groups (N = 56,968). While multi-group confirmatory factor analysis
\n(MG-CFA) of the NES supported full scalar invariance across gender identities and age groups, only partial scalar
\ninvariance was supported across national and linguistic groups. MG-CFA of the CNS also supported full scalar
\ninvariance across gender identities and age groups, but only partial scalar invariance of a 7-item version of the
\nCNS across national and linguistic groups. Nation-level associations between NES and CNS scores were negli-
\ngible, likely reflecting a lack of conceptual clarity over what the NES is measuring. Individual-level associations
\nbetween both measures and sociodemographic variables were weak. Findings suggest that the CNS-7 may be a
\nuseful tool to measure nature connectedness globally, but measures other than the NES may be needed to capture
\nnature exposure cross-culturally.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Environmental Psychology
Published
2024-09-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102432
Citations
25
Primary Topic
Environmental Education and Sustainability
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
17.75
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article

Exposure and connectedness to natural environments: An examination of the measurement invariance of the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) and Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups

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25 citations
Journal of Environmental Psychology
Environmental Education and Sustainability
17.75
article

Exposure and connectedness to natural environments: An examination of the measurement invariance of the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) and Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups

Trawin Chaleeraktrakoon, Farinaz Farbod, Alireza Ghorbani, Alena Slezáčková, Sonja Windhager, Silvia Cerea, Mehdi Sharifi, Jacqueline Mills, Hikari Namatame, O Jiaqing, Olusola Ayandele, Maria Serena Panasiti, Steven R. Hawks, Simon Whitebridge, Sabine Pahl, Olivia McAnirlin, Hyejoo J. Lee, Kamila Czepczor‐Bernat, Lidia Márquez Baldó, Sadia Malik, Tracy L. Tylka, Viren Swami, Reza Afhami, Antonio Aliás Garcia, Anar Uyzbayeva, Teresita Borja-Álvarez, Mathew P. White, Camilla Matera, Karlijn Massar, Ângela Nogueira Neves, Simon E. Dalley, Mahboubeh Dadfar, Félix Neto, Angel M. Dzhambov, Gill A. ten Hoor, Martina Zvaríková, Apitchaya Chaiwutikornwanich, Emrah Özsoy, Mariusz Lipowski, Mirjana Rupar, Kah Yan Wong, Timothy P. Chambers, Jacinthe Dion, Matthew Fuller‐Tyszkiewicz, Annie Aimé, Adrian F Furnham, Verónica Jiménez-Borja, Aitor Vicente-Arruebarrena, Natalia Irrazábal, Maryanne L. Fisher, Sahar Obeïd, John Jamir Benzon R. Aruta, Marcin Czub, Trefor Aspden, Adam Kantanista, Kate E. Mulgrew, Valentina Cazzato, Miroslava Bozogáňová, Mai Helmy, Taotao Ru, Yonguk Park, Evan M. Johnson, Devi R. Nithiya, Christophe Maïano, Martina Hřebı́čková, Miglė Bacevičienė, Marina Burakova, Radvan Bahbouh, Mona Vintilă, Fernando Tonini, Stefan Stieger, Oli Ahmed, Jennifer Corrigan, Neena Kohli, Sandesh Dhakal, Garry Kuan, Tosin Tunrayo Olonisakin, Marwan Akel, Martin Voracek, Passagorn Tevichapong, Vishnunarayan Girishan Prabhu, Magdalena Zawisza, Yoko Sawamiya, David Barron, Mandar Manjary, Magdalena Razmus, Yee Cheng Kueh, Joana Neto, Chin‐Lung Chien, Jose Vidal-Mollón, Marie-Ève Blackburn, Pankaj Kumar Tripathi, Siu-Kuen Ng, Gyöngyvér Gyene, Yuko Yamamiya, Camila Oda-Montecinos, David A. Frederick, Taryn A. Myers, Peter O. Olapegba, Isabel Krug, Jakob Pietschnig, Lionel Dany, Sonia Harzallah Debbabi, Maya Miyairi, Rumana Ferdousi Siddique, Marios Argyrides, Hyxia Villegas, Justyna Modrzejewska, Hussam Al Halbusi, Andrea Ballesio, Mary Anne Lauri, Juan Camilo Tovar-Castro, Veljko Jovanović, SóleySesselja Bender, Ashleigh Bellard, Ding–Yu Jiang, Andrea Lukács, Salam Khatib, A. Mechri, Edmunds Vanags, Alessandra Costa Pereira Junqueira, Victoria Wai Lan Yeung, Adriana Modrzejewska, Toivo Aavik, Mehmet Eskin, Joanna Borowiec, Muhammad Mainuddin Patwary, Lise Katrine Jepsen Trangsrud, Marcelo Callegari Zanetti, Michael Schulte‐Mecklenbeck, Vipul Kumar, Małgorzata Lipowska, Luis Diego Vega, Ulrich S. Tran, Caterina Grano, Jonathan E. Handelzalts, Ana Šimunić, Ayşe Nur Karkın, Wanderson Roberto da Silva, Omar Kujan, Michał Folwarczny, Bovornpot Choompunuch, Issa Hekmati, Marija Jović, Jesus Alfonso D. Datu, Souheil R. Hallit, Kerim Selvi, Aituar Kospakov, Veya Seekis, Pavol Prokop, Emilio Juan Compte, Nadezhda Petrova, Juliana Fernandes Filgueiras Meireles, Solfrid Bratland‐Sanda, Miljana Kukić, Eric Kenson Yau, Brynja Örlygsdóttir, Amanda Nerini, Reza N. Sahlan, Otilia Tudorel, Anita Shrivastava, Stephen Lawrence Atkin, Zahir Vally, Jorunn Sundgot‐Borgen, Micaela Jiménez‐Borja, Gabriel Lins de Holanda Coelho, Caterina Lombardo, Gorana Birovljević, Norbert Meskó, Martha Martínez-Banfi, Qingwei Chen, Valdimar Sigurðsson, Nishtha Lamba, Jacob Owusu Sarfo, Pedro Henrique Berbert de Carvalho, Erich Kasten, Richard Gregory Cowden, Marko Jović, Tobias Otterbring, Ahmet Karakiraz, Stacey M. Donofrio, Marta Ghisi, Constantinos Togas, Sara Álvarez Solas, Violeta Enea, Sonny Andrianto, Ana Carolina Soares Amaral, Magdalena Król-Zielińska, Christoph Wallner, Vineta Silkāne, Motasem Hamdan, Sanjay Kumar, Lorleen Farrugia, Salma Samir Omar, Arun Tipandjan, Mohammad Zakaria Nassani, George Alexias, Sulaiman Olanrewaju Adebayo, Hamed Abdollahpour Ranjbar, Roosevelt Vilar, Nadine Zeeni, Litza Kiropoulos, Shulamit Geller, Sadaf Pourmahmoud, Barnaby Dixson, Katrin Schæfer, Anna Brytek‐Matera, Kerime Derya Beydağ, Anas B. Alsalhani, Maria Fernanda Laus, Başak İnce, Tatiana Pethö, Sylvie Graf, Olasupo Augustine Ijabadeniyi, Getrude Cosmas, Phatthanakit Chobthamkit, Marius Drysch, Patricia Joseph Kimong, Claire El-Jor, Geraldine Holenweger, Rasa Jankauskienė, Sarah Gradidge, María Ángeles Gómez Martínez, Donka Dimitrova, Leonie Fian, Farah Hina, Nuannut Khieowan, Joshua Knittel, Mirjam Koprivnik, Nursel Alp-Dal, Anđela Šalov, Yeliz Çakır-Koçak, Vittorio Emanuele Camilleri, Avila Odia S. De Jesus, Xin Chen, Hongfei Du, Saphal Sapkota, Jennifer Todd, Tetiana Hill, Moisés Roberto Mebarak, Ritu Modi, PaulH.P. Hanel, Vita Poštuvan, Liza April LeBlanc, Khawla F. Ali, Lisa-Marie Kahle, Virginia L. Ramseyer Winter, Mohammad Salah Hassan, Pablo G. Camacho, MatthewH.E.M. Browning, Asma Imam, Francesca Di Bernardo, G. Singh
article en
25 citations

Abstract

Detachment from nature is contributing to the environmental crisis and reversing this trend requires detailed
\nmonitoring and targeted interventions to reconnect people to nature. Most tools measuring nature exposure and
\nattachment were developed in high-income countries and little is known about their robustness across national
\nand linguistic groups. Therefore, we used data from the Body Image in Nature Survey to assess measurement
\ninvariance of the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) and the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) across 65 nations,
\n40 languages, gender identities, and age groups (N = 56,968). While multi-group confirmatory factor analysis
\n(MG-CFA) of the NES supported full scalar invariance across gender identities and age groups, only partial scalar
\ninvariance was supported across national and linguistic groups. MG-CFA of the CNS also supported full scalar
\ninvariance across gender identities and age groups, but only partial scalar invariance of a 7-item version of the
\nCNS across national and linguistic groups. Nation-level associations between NES and CNS scores were negli-
\ngible, likely reflecting a lack of conceptual clarity over what the NES is measuring. Individual-level associations
\nbetween both measures and sociodemographic variables were weak. Findings suggest that the CNS-7 may be a
\nuseful tool to measure nature connectedness globally, but measures other than the NES may be needed to capture
\nnature exposure cross-culturally.

Journal of Environmental PsychologyVol. 99
University of Vienna (AT), Ekiti State University (NG), Tarbiat Modares University (IR), University of Ibadan (NG), Aix-Marseille Université (FR), Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive (FR), Universidad Regional Amazónica IKIAM (EC), University of Tartu (EE), De La Salle University (PH)
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Environmental Education and Sustainability
17.75
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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