This study examined the relationship between children's environmental views and their subjective well-being (SWB). The children involved were 1004 twelve year olds randomly selected from 15 primary schools in South Africa representing various cultural, economic and geographical groups.
Three different instruments were used for collecting data: the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale for Children, the Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS), and the Personal Well-Being Index-School Children (PWI-SC). The NEP was used to measure children's environmental views, the SLSS to measure their global life satisfaction, and the PWI-SC to measure a number of more personal life satisfaction domains, such as standard of living, health, achievement in life, and personal safety.
Results indicated that children's environmental views were not related to their global life and domain specific life satisfaction. These results differ from previous research findings that indicate a positive relationship between children's engagement in nature (which may be different than views of nature) and their sense of well-being.
The researchers involved in this study provide some possible explanations for this discrepancy. They note, for example, that many of the children participating in this study live in degraded natural environments and communities where crime, violence, and pollution are the norm. Their natural environment, then, becomes almost synonymous with danger and their confidence that people have the capability to protect nature almost non-existent.
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