Abstract

ESTEBAN IBANEZ, Macarena; MUSITU FERRER, Daniel  and  AMADOR MUNOZ, Luis Vicente. School adjustment, empathy and connectedness with the natural environment in environmental education in Spanish secondary education. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2022, vol.39, n.3, pp.243-262.  Epub June 23, 2022. ISSN 1668-7027.  http://dx.doi.org/10.16888/interd.2022.39.3.14.

In recent research it has been observed that empathy and connectedness with the natural environment are relevant predictive variables of pro-environmental behaviour. However, no work has been done in which the relationships between these dimensions and the adjustment in the school are analysed, a context in which most of the programs related to environmental education, whose purpose is to promote pro-environmental behaviours, take place. The general aim of this paper is to analyse the relationships between school adjustment, empathy and connectedness with the natural environment according to gender. School adjustment is defined as the adolescent's ability to adapt to this context and includes aspects such as academic performance, adaptation to school rules, respect for the teacher as an authority figure, the student's attitude towards school and participation in school activities. Empathy is conceptualized as the awareness of the emotions and cognitions of others, and it is important in the school context for the promotion of coexistence and prevention of aggressive behaviors. Like empathy with people, empathy with the natural environment is a social-emotional process. It is a process that focuses on the ability to feel and understand everything related to that medium. In this line, an essential aspect of empathy is its influence on the attitudes and behaviors of people in general and towards the natural environment. An aspect related to empathy is connectedness which refers to the identification of human beings with the natural environment and the relationships they establish with it. In such a way that to study the connection with nature is to try to understand how people build their relationships and identify themselves with it. Connectedness to the natural environment is related in a negative sense to selfish beliefs and attitudes and in a positive sense to the development of attitudes towards the natural environment and ecological behavior in general. These aspects are taken into account in this work.

The sample was composed of 881 students (47.2 % boys), enrolled in secondary education (Spain), aged between 12 and 17 (M = 13.67 y SD = 1.32). A battery of instruments to measure school adjustment, empathy and connectedness with the natural environment was administered. A MANOVA was used for data analysis. The results showed that the school adjustment, empathy and connectedness were significantly related and that gender had a significant role in these relationships. It was also observed that boys and girls with high school adjustment differed in emotional empathy, but not in connectedness. Results obtained are discussed and the inclusion of the school adjustment in the studies and programs related to environmental education is recommended.

These results raise the idea that school adjustment, connectedness and empathy should be the subject of further analysis because their results would help to incorporate new ideas and proposals into education and intervention programs regarding the natural environment. It was expected that environmental connectedness in adolescents had the same sign as their connectedness with school, family, etc. because many studies have observed that girls have greater connectedness in these scenarios than boys; however, this result deserves a greater exploration regarding gender and its relationships with other connectedness It is recommended that the results presented be considered in future environmental education programs, mainly aimed at students and their families. All this will benefit these educational programs and interventions aimed at enhancing respect and awareness of the natural environment. In short, the promotion of pro-environmental behaviors should be defended through environmental education that seeks to ensure the health and well-being of all citizens.

Keywords : school adjustment; empathy; connectedness; natural environment; adolescence.

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