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ABSTRACT
Connectedness to nature is significantly correlated with psychological well-being. Although relevant published literature has been heavily skewed towards Western, Caucasian, and Christian samples. Traditional Buddhist teachings in Thai culture guide Thais towards deep connection to nature. The objective of this study is to investigate associations among connectedness to nature, psychological well-being, mindfulness and engagement with natural beauty among Thai Buddhists. Four questionnaires were completed by 359 Thai Buddhists and path analysis was used to analyze the data. Results show that connectedness to nature directly affects mindfulness, engagement with natural beauty, and psychological well-being, with significant standard coefficients of .20, .25, and .21, respectively. Moreover, 24 percent of psychological well-being was explained by connectedness to nature, mindfulness, and engagement with natural beauty. These findings help fill a gap in the published literature and provide essential cross-cultural validation of these constructs by exploring a non-western sample.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).