This study examined the relationships between parental socialization styles and empathy and connection to the natural environment. While it's generally understood that parents are the main socializing agents for children and youth, little is known about the parental influence on adolescents' connectedness with the environment.
A total of 797 adolescents (age 12 – 16) participated in this study by completing questionnaires administered in their usual classrooms during a regular class period. The questionnaires included three scales: The Parental Socialization Scale (ESPA29), The Environmental Empathy scale (EES), and The Connectedness to Nature scale (CN8). The ESPA29 evaluates parental socialization styles in 29 different scenarios (or significant situations) representative of everyday family life. The resulting score is used to identify the parents' socialization style —neglectful, authoritarian, indulgent and authoritative. The EES consists of 11 items that measure the emotional and cognitive empathy of people with nature. Empathy towards nature, in this context, means “acknowledging the needs of animals and nature in general, the importance of their survival, and showing interest in their well-being.” The CN8 consists of 8 items that measure connectedness with nature, which is sometimes defined as “the degree to which human beings integrate nature in their cognitive representation of self”.
Results showed that styles of parental socialization were significantly related to empathy and connectedness with nature and that there was a significant interaction effect between parental socialization styles and gender. Adolescents with indulgent and authoritative parents had higher levels of empathy and connectedness with the environment than adolescents with authoritarian and neglectful parents. Males with authoritarian and neglectful parents consistently showed the lowest levels of empathy and connectedness. Women, on the other hand, regardless of the parental style in which they were raised, showed greater cognitive and emotional empathy with the natural environment than males. Gender did not have a significant effect on connectedness with nature.
The overall findings of this study suggest “that indulgent and authoritative styles are stronger enablers of empathy and connectedness with nature” than authoritarian and neglectful styles of parenting. This research may also indicate that parental socialization styles not only influence children in the individual, family, and social spheres of their lives, but also in their relationships with nature.
Research Partner