A Growing Disconnection From Nature Is Evident in Cultural Products

Abstract

Human connection with nature is widely believed to be in decline even though empirical evidence is scarce on the magnitude and historical pattern of the change. Studying works of popular culture in English throughout the 20th century and later, we have documented a cultural shift away from nature that begins in the 1950s. Since then, references to nature have been decreasing steadily in fiction books, song lyrics, and film storylines, whereas references to the human-made environment have not. The observed temporal pattern is consistent with the explanatory role of increased virtual and indoors recreation options (e.g., television, video games) in the disconnect from nature, and it is inconsistent with a pure urbanization account. These findings are cause for concern, not only because they imply foregone physical and psychological benefits from engagement with nature, but also because cultural products are agents of socialization that can evoke curiosity, respect, and concern for the natural world.

Determinants of pro-environmental behavior among excessive smartphone usage children and moderate smartphone usage children in Taiwan

“…The extant literature suggested that there were inadequate studies conducted to understand the relationship between smartphone usage and environmental behaviors, which this study sought to fill the gap by investigating personal norms, social norms, and perceived behavioral control to determine their specific path and level of influence on pro-environmental behaviors. The overall results indicated that moderate smartphone usage children had shown a greater level of proenvironmental behaviors than those children who were excessive smartphone users, and this finding was supported by previous studies [8,9]. The results also revealed support and accepted six (i.e.…”

“…Particularly, the widespread use of smartphones is regarded as a factor influencing pro-environmental behavior, leading to disconnect people from the natural environment which has become substantial worldwide psychological and behavioral issues [5,6]. While it remains controversial whether smartphone usage cause disconnectedness between people and natural environment [7,8], studies have found that adults who spent extended amount of time on smartphone in a day are more likely to exhibit a stronger negative pro-environmental behavior [8,9]. Such extensive smartphone usage behavior is not only limited to adults, but also evident in children who are increasingly smartphone users nowadays.…”

Conceptos e infraestructuras didácticas en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la biodiversidad en Educación Infantil: análisis de la situación en Asturias

“…La biodiversidad es un concepto que se cree ampliamente conocido, o por lo menos ampliamente comentado en la sociedad y la escuela, así como una necesidad de conservación ambiental. Y, sin embargo, algo en estos procesos no acaba de funcionar en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje implementados, cuando nos encontramos cada vez más alejados de la naturaleza (Kesebir & Kesebir, 2017;Prévot-Julliard, Julliard & Clayton, 2015;Pyle, 2003), relación que se considera imprescindible para poder conseguir un desarrollo óptimo en la infancia (Corraliza & Collado, 2011;Torres-Porras et al, 2017).…”

Cultural Changes in Neural Structure and Function

“…Other work has explored shifts in societies think about and engage with the natural world. In their analysis of references to nature in cultural products, Kesebir and Kesebir (2017) report a decline in nature-related language (i.e. references to birds, trees, flowers, seasons, etc) in American and British fiction, popular song lyrics from Anglophone countries, and storylines from Anglophone films from the mid-twentieth century onwards.…”