Closer To Nature, Further From Loneliness, IIM Indore Study Finds Among Students Living Away From Home
· Free Press Journal
Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A study by the Indian Institute of Management Indore has found that a stronger connection with nature is associated with lower levels of loneliness among university students living away from their families.
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The study, titled “Impact of Nature Connectedness on Loneliness Among University Students Living Away from Home: The Mediating Roles of Meaningfulness, Peace of Mind, and Resilience,” has been published in the journal Cities. It examines whether an emotional and cognitive bond with nature can help reduce loneliness and explores the psychological processes through which such an effect may occur.
The research, conducted by Prof Raina Chhajer, focused on 257 Indian urban university students aged 19 to 26 who had moved away from their families for higher education. The researchers used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyse survey responses covering nature connectedness, meaningfulness, peace of mind, psychological resilience and subjective loneliness.
The study found a significant direct negative association between nature connectedness and loneliness. In other words, students reporting a stronger bond with the natural world also tended to report lower levels of loneliness.
Nature connectedness was also positively associated with three psychological resources - meaningfulness, peace of mind and psychological resilience. Each of these resources, in turn, showed a negative relationship with loneliness.
However, the mediation analysis revealed a more specific pattern. Meaningfulness and peace of mind significantly mediated the relationship between nature connectedness and loneliness, suggesting that connecting with nature may help students feel less lonely partly by strengthening their sense of purpose and fostering a greater sense of inner calm.
Psychological resilience, despite being positively associated with nature connectedness and negatively associated with loneliness, did not emerge as a statistically significant mediator. The findings indicate that existential and emotional processes may play a more immediate role in translating a connection with nature into reduced feelings of social isolation.
The study also highlighted a gap between access to and engagement with green spaces. While 97.3% of participants said urban green spaces were available nearby, only 53.7% reported visiting them at least once a week. About 83.7% lived alone, underscoring the social and adjustment challenges faced by students pursuing education away from home.
The findings have implications for urban planning, public health and university well-being programmes. The study suggests that cities and educational institutions could promote accessible parks, green corridors and campus nature areas while encouraging regular engagement through activities such as community gardening, outdoor mindfulness and nature-based programmes.
The research also points to the potential value of combining such environmental interventions with community engagement and meaning-focused psychological support. Together, these approaches could offer a practical and scalable way to strengthen the well-being of young people navigating university life away from home.
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