Introduction

The Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) measures to what degree people feel part of nature (Mayer & McPherson Frantz, 2004). The study shows that this is a personality trait. This trait is predictive of responsible environmental behavior and subjective wellbeing.

PsyToolkit has various scales measuring subjective wellbeing, such as the General Happiness scale, the Subjective Happiness Scale, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale.

In a sample of 60 people (31 male, 29 female) from 18 to 68 years old Americans in Oberlin (Ohio) participated. The participants had a variety of occupations, although they were higher educated than the average American population. The average score in this sample was 3.65 (out of a range from 1 to 5).

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The CNS be used for research, but you need to acknowledge the authors and their research paper when writing about it (Mayer & McPherson Frantz, 2004).

Technically

This is a simple scale question with some reverse coded items.

The survey code for PsyToolkit

Copy and paste this code to your PsyToolkit account if you want to use the scale in your own online research project
scale: cns_scale
- strongly disagree
- disagree
- neutral
- agree
- strongly agree

l: cns
t: scale cns_scale
o: buildup
q: Please answer each of these questions in terms of the way you generally feel.<br>
There are no right or wrong answers.<br>
Simply state as honestly and candidly as you can what you are presently experiencing.<br>
- 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 recognize and appreciate the intelligence of other living organisms.
- {reverse} I often feel disconnected from nature.
- When I think of my life, I imagine myself to be part of a larger cyclical process of living.
- I often feel a kinship with animals and plants.
- I feel as though I belong to the Earth as equally as it belongs to me.
- I have a deep understanding of how my actions affect the natural world.
- I often feel part of the web of life.
- I feel that all inhabitants of Earth, human, and nonhuman, share a common ‘life force’.
- Like a tree can be part of a forest, I feel embedded within the broader natural world.
- {reverse} When I think of my place on Earth, I consider myself to be a top member of a hierarchy that exists in nature.
- I often feel like I am only a small part of the natural world around me, and that I am no more important than the grass on the ground or the birds in the trees.
- {reverse} My personal welfare is independent of the welfare of the natural world.

l: cns_score
t: set
- mean $cns

l: feedback
t: info
q: Scores on the Connectedness to Nature Scale can vary from 1 to 5 points.<br>
Your score is {$cns_score}.

References

  • Mayer, F.S. & McPherson Frantz, C. (2004). The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of individuals’ feeling in community with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24, 503-515.