Cognitive Flexibility as a Mediator Between Nature Relatedness and Emotion Appraisal Among Adolescents

Abstract

The present study explores the potential mediating role of cognitive flexibility in the association between nature-relatedness and the appraisal of emotions. Nature-relatedness refers to an individual's connection and affinity with the natural world, while cognitive flexibility represents the ability to adapt thinking and switch between mental tasks. We hypothesize that individuals with a higher nature-relatedness would exhibit greater cognitive flexibility, which, in turn, would influence their appraisal of emotions. For this purpose, 279 adolescent school students (47.7% male, 52.3% female) aged 15 to 18 completed self-report measures assessing their level of nature-relatedness, cognitive flexibility, and appraisal of their own and others' emotions. Mediation analysis, employing bootstrapping techniques, was utilized to assess the indirect effect of cognitive flexibility on the relationship between nature-relatedness and emotion appraisal. The results provided empirical support for the proposed mediation model. Nature relatedness significantly predicted cognitive flexibility (β = 0.35, p < 0.001), appraisal of own emotions (β = 0.18, p < 0.01), and the appraisal of others' emotions (β = 0.17, p < 0.01). Furthermore, cognitive flexibility emerged as a partial mediator in both the relationship between nature relatedness (NR) and appraisal of own emotions, with an indirect effect estimate of 0.06 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01–0.11), as well as between NR and appraisal of others' emotions with an indirect effect estimate of 0.07 (95% CI: 0.02–0.11). This suggests that a strong connection with nature might foster cognitive flexibility, leading to a more nuanced and adaptive evaluation of one's own emotions and others' emotions.