Green guidance emphasizes choice of practices and jobs minimizing environmental harm. In addition green guidance increases awareness of the importance of green careers in work with clients, encouraging individuals to consider the environmental implications of their career choices, promoting reflection on individuals’ ability to balance work and other aspects of their life, and increasing a sustainable lifestyle which promotes health, economic security and social justice (Guichard, 2013a; Plant, 2013). Green guidance also has the role of moving career practice away from the constraints of the dominant economic discourse, advocating a professional discourse which enables practitioners to assist clients in achieving a fulfilling life in a more socially just, sustainable society (Barham, 2014). If green guidance has to pay attention to wider ecological concerns, consequently career practice has to take into consideration individual well-being, organizational well-being, community well-being and the well-being of the planet (Guichard & Di Fabio, 2015; Guichard, 2013a).
Furthermore, green guidance underlines the importance of the fundamental aims of career interventions (in line with the UNESCO Chair on Lifelong guidance and Counseling, Guichard, 2013a) but from a “green” perspective, affirming the relevance of improving the common good of humanity, contributing to the development of decent work in a sustainable and fair world economy (Guichard & Di Fabio, 2015) to promote more and better jobs and social inclusion, and to reduce poverty (Di Fabio, 2014b, 2015b).
A green positive guidance perspective can be introduced in terms of both individual concerns and environmental concerns. Individual concerns regard preventive attention towards one’s own future in line with one’s own meaningful aims, expression of one’s own talents and potentials and relationships with significant others (Di Fabio, 2015a; Di Fabio & Kenny, 2015). Environmental concerns are related to concerns not only for one’s own but also for other peoples’ future (even if unknown), fairness institutions, social justice, the environment, exploitation of resources, and the health of the planet and the environment for the future generation (Guichard, 2013a). Green positive guidance highlights the importance of designing one’s own future life taking these ethical issues for sustainable development and careers into account and paying attention both to oneself and to others, to the future of others and of the planet too.
From a green positive guidance and life counseling perspective, connectedness to nature is a promising construct (Di Fabio, 2015b), since interest in nature and the inclusion of nature in one’s own representation of self could be taken into account as important aspects for the meaning of work (Blustein, 2006, 2011) and life construction (Guichard, 2013a).
Connectedness to nature is initially defined as “the extent to which an individual includes nature within his/her cognitive representation of self” (Schultz, 2002, p. 67). Subsequently the definition of connectedness to nature has included an individual’s affective, experiential connection to nature (Mayer & Frantz, 2004). People with connectedness to nature perceive themselves as part of the broader natural world, experiencing themselves as members of the broader natural community; feeling a sense of affinity with it; considering themselves as belonging to the natural world as much as it belongs to them; believing that their well-being is related to the well-being of the natural world (Mayer & Frantz, 2004). From a green positive guidance and life counseling perspective, connectedness to nature represents a promising construct since it can permit individuals to reflect on the importance given to the natural world and to feel part of this world. This could be fundamental for the construction of a life and career project deeply in line with the individual authentic self (Di Fabio, 2014d), considering also the value of the environment in this planning, on the basis of respect both towards the environment and towards others. This can also contribute to creating a perspective of respect both for the environment and people, not only in the present from a synchronic perspective but also for future generations from a diachronic perspective (Guichard, 2013a; Di Fabio, 2015b). Thus in this article a study was presented with the aim of offering a first contribution to the validation of the Italian version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale. The possibility of having this scale available also in the Italian context can open future prospects for research and interventions, improving reflection on the importance of respecting the environment and of others for individual career and life projects and for the future of next generations.
Method
Participants
The research participants were 304 Italian high school students who were attending the last year of a high school in Tuscany. One hundred and thirty one (43.09%) of the participants were males and 173 (56,91%) were females. The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 20 years (M = 18.74, SD = .62).
Measures
Connectedness to Nature Scale. To evaluate connectedness to nature, the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS, Mayer & Frantz, 2004) in the Italian version by Di Fabio was used. The scale has 14 items with response options on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Strongly agree to 5 = Strongly disagree. Examples of items are: «I often feel a sense of oneness with the natural world around me», «I think of the natural world as a community to which I belong», «I have a deep understanding of how my actions affect the natural world». The items of the original version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale were translated using the back translation method.
Authenticity Scale. To evaluate authenticity, the Authenticity Scale (AS, Wood, Linley, Maltby, Baliousis, & Joseph, 2008) in the Italian version by Di Fabio (2014a) was used. The measure is composed of 12 items with a response format on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Does not describe me at all to 7 = Describes me very well. The scale provides a total score of authenticity and also scores for three dimensions of authenticity: Self-alienation (e.g. «I feel out of touch with the real me»), Authentic living (e.g., «I am true to myself in most situations»), and Accepting external influence (e.g., «I always feel I need to do what others expect of me»). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the total score used in this study was .80.
Meaningful Life Measure. To evaluate meaning in life, the Meaningful Life Measure (MLM, Morgan & Farsides, 2009) in the Italian version by Di Fabio (2014b) was used. The questionnaire is composed of 23 items on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree. The MLM detects five dimensions: Exciting life (e.g. «Life to me seems always exciting»), Accomplished life (e.g., «So far, I am pleased with what I have achieved in life»), Principled life (e.g. «I have a personal value system that makes my life worthwhile»), Purposeful life (e.g., «I have a clear idea of what my future goals and aims are»), Valued life (e.g. «My life is significant»). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the total score used in this study was .85.
Procedure
The scales were administered in school classrooms by trained psychologists, adhering to the requirements of confidentiality and informed consent. The administration order was counterbalanced to control for potential presentation order effects.
Data Analysis
Confirmatory factor analysis of the PS&RM model was conducted through structural equation modelling using AMOS version 6 (Arbuckle, 2005). The adequacy of the model was tested based upon the χ2/df, the Comparative Fit Index (CFI, Bentler, 1990) and the Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI, Tucker & Lewis, 1973), and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA, Browne & Cudeck, 1993). The reliability of the Connectedness to Nature Scale was evaluated through Cronbach Alpha and the corrected item-total correlations. Furthermore, to verify concurrent validity, the correlations between the Connectedness to Nature Scale and AS and MLM were analysed.
Results
To verify the unidimensional structure of the Connectedness to Nature Scale, a confirmatory factor analysis was carried out. The indices of Goodness of Fit are reported in Table 1.
Table 1 Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Goodness of Fit
In relation to the considered indices, the Italian version of the scale confirms a unidimensional structure. To verify the internal consistency of the examined instrument the Cronbach Alpha and the corrected item-total correlations were calculated. The Cronbach Alpha was .91. The corrected item-total correlations were all positive and significant and were comprised between .41 and .84.
The correlations of the Connectedness to Nature Scale with the AS and the MLM were reported in Table 2.
Table 2 Correlations of the Connectedness to Nature Scale with the AS and the MLM
Discussions
From a green positive guidance and life counseling perspective, connectedness to nature represents a promising construct since it allows individuals to reflect on the importance given to the natural world and to feel part of this world. This means including these aspects as fundamental values to construct one’s own career and life project in line with the authentic self (Di Fabio, 2014d). Thus this study offered a first contribution to the validation of the Italian version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale by Di Fabio. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a unidimensional model. The reliability of the scale resulted adequate. The correlations of the Italian version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale with AS and MLM underlined an adequate concurrent validity of the scale, highlighting how connectedness to nature is associated with both authenticity and meaning in life, as aspects of authentic self and purposeful identitarian awareness (Di Fabio, 2014d, 2015a). From the results of this study it is possible to conclude that the Italian version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale proves a valid and reliable instrument to detect connectedness to nature in high school students also in the Italian context. Nevertheless, this study presents the limitation of having analysed the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale only with high school students of Tuscany, who are not representative of Italy as a whole. Future research should therefore use participants more representative of the Italian context, including high school students of other geographic areas in Italy and university students. It could also be interesting to verify the results in other international contexts in order to encourage comparison with other countries in relation to connectedness to nature. Despite the limitations identified, the Italian version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale is an instrument that can accurately detect connectedness to nature in the Italian context too. The availability of such an instrument allows new perspectives for research and intervention in the field of green positive guidance and life counseling to be opened. This scale can contribute to encouraging reflection on the importance of connectedness to nature to construct a career and life project which is really anchored to the most authentic values of the individual. From this perspective it is important to recognize the value of the environment, the necessity of respecting both the environment and others, contributing to underlining a perspective of respect, safeguarding and protection of resources both from a synchronic and a diachronic perspective (Di Fabio, 2015b), and also opening reflection on the meaning of our lives in relation to future generations (Guichard, 2013a).
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