AN EXPLORATION OF THE UNDERLYING REASONS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S BIOPHILIC TENDENCIES
Abstract
This current study explores 48-60-month-old preschool children’s biophilic tendencies by explaining their reasons. The sample of the study consisted of 116 preschool children selected from four public preschools located in Mersin, Turkey. Children’s Biophilia Measure exploring young children’s levels of affinity toward nature was used as a data collecting material. The findings revealed that the frequencies of young children’s biophilic tendencies were much more than their non-biophilic tendencies. The effect of culture, including parental allowance and restriction, was the most striking factor influencing children’s biophilic or non-biophilic tendencies. The other factors affecting children’s tendencies were affordances of the natural outdoor settings for children’s play, safety hazards outdoors, having fun/feeling enjoyment during nature play, attractiveness/unattractiveness of a natural stimuli, curiosity, and previous experiences in natural environment. The finding of this research suggested that there is a need for accessible natural settings to ensure young children’s regular and direct interactions with nature; which in turn, strengthen their affinity toward nature.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v7i9.3237
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