Contact with nature and experiences with wildlife have been shown to contribute to nature connection and human wellbeing (Curtin & Kragh, 2014; Wolsko & Lindberg, 2013), both of which are important human needs.
The overall research question in this study was: “What do marine mammal encounters mean to people and how do they affect connection to and understanding of
nature?”
The 625 participants were predominantly Australian1 (94%), mainly female (76%). Most participants were evenly spread across the ages between 19 and 64 years.
The mixed-methods correlational research design used a survey to collect data. The paper draws on responses to three survey questions (one dichotomous, one likert and one short answer) about meaning and connectedness to nature.
Significant differences were found for subjective meaning and nature connection, across the different types of marine mammal experiences. Higher levels of connection and meaning were reported by those with wild than those with captive experiences. The five themes of Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment that make up Seligman’s (2011) PERMA wellbeing model were used to inform thematic template analyses of the short answer responses and highlighted the relationship between wellbeing and connection to nature. Additionally, a sixth theme of Perspective emerged as an important factor among participants.
Novel application of a positive psychology model to describe people's nature interactions extends previous work (Yerbury & Boyd, 2019). In the current paper, the PERMA model plus the theme of Perspective captures the expressed changes in participants’ points of view and wellbeing. Implications for understanding how nature and wildlife experiences can contribute to the human quest for wellbeing and meaning, is discussed, along with possible contribution to the development of an ecocentric view where humans can realize their effects on nature. This presentation is based on the following publication: (Yerbury & Weiler, 2020).