Promoting Nature Connectedness: Insights into the Roles of Mindfulness and Nonattachment

Nature connectedness, a sense of identification with the natural world, has been identified as an important psychological antecedent of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour. Understanding its psychological correlates therefore carries both theoretical and practical relevance. Mindfulness and nonattachment, two dispositional qualities rooted in contemplative traditions, have each been associated with enhanced well-being and a greater appreciation of one’s interconnectedness with the environment, yet their specific interrelationships with nature connectedness remain poorly understood. The present cross-sectional study therefore examined conditional indirect associations between trait nonattachment, dispositional mindfulness, and nature connectedness in a sample of 152 university students completing validated self-report measures. Two alternative models including conditional indirect effects were tested via structural equation modelling with bootstrapped confidence intervals. Correlational analyses revealed positive associations between study variables, with mindful awareness, but not acceptance, significantly correlated with nature connectedness. Structural equation modelling revealed a significant indirect effect of nonattachment on nature connectedness through mindful awareness. These findings contribute to the growing literature on psychological antecedents of nature connectedness and carry theoretical implications for mindfulness-based approaches to pro-environmental attitudes. Future longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to establish the directionality and practical relevance of the observed associations.