How does physical environment,

specifically nature, impact a person’s self-concept?

Atlantia Aquarian

Senior Project Advisor:​ ​Carlin Nielsen, MA.Ed.

12th Grade Humanities

Animas High School

11 March 2019
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Part I: Introduction

“We can reconnect to ourselves, gaining a deeper, fuller understanding of who we are, by

reconnecting to nature...Once we stop thinking of ourselves in terms of the roles we inhabit and

start to understand ourselves in terms of an ecosystem, we get access to the rich complexity of

our being” (Tartakovsky).​ Research shows that individuals who have taken time to listen to

nature become more aware of themselves. Paying attention to how you are feeling, what you are

thinking, and being aware of your limitations. This can begin to carve out space for our inner

wisdom to develop, and help us to expand the understanding we have of ourselves.

In our fast-paced lives, how important is it that we find the time to reconnect with nature?

Even if it’s just a few moments to sit in the wilderness and reflect on questions, ​Who am I? What

do I stand for? How can I contribute to this world?​ The research presented here shows that

finding the time to reconnect to one’s senses is necessary. That we must take the time to examine

natural objects, and allow our imagination the space to explore. In this way, we will best allow

our innermost thoughts to come out, which is essential to discovering who we are. It is beneficial

to do so, inorder for you to gain a deeper understand of yourself. “Exploring the nature around us

helps explore the nature within us, delving into the core of who we are. ​We’re part of the natural

world. This is why it so beautifully reflects us—and we reflect it” (Tartakovsky). ​Nature is one

of the most prevalent environmental factors to impact self-concept, as it has been found to

improve health, create perspective, and develop connections.

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Part II: Historical Context/Background Knowledge

“Self-concept. .. all our thoughts and feeling about ourselves, in answer to the question,

Who am I?” (Myers). Self-concept can also be thought of as mental picture of you are

psychically, emotionally, socially, spiritually or in other regards. When this term is used in

psychology, it is used to identify the thoughts and beliefs that a person has about themselves and

in the end how each individual perceive themselves. A person's self-concept is what helps each

individual to define who they are and how they fit into the world, and this just shows how

important understanding your self-concept is. Because every individual wants to understand

themselves and feel as though they belong. It’s also important because it influences how we

think, feel, or act in our everyday lives and not to mention it can be valuable to know what

impacts us. Self-concept develops through childhood and early adulthood but goes through a

constant evolution through a person's lifespan. Because we are humans each of us have our own

unique self-concept, however there are some characteristics that all our self-concepts have in

common. Firstly, each is unique to the individual. Secondly, it can vary from very positive to

very negative, and can change due to your surroundings. Thirdly, your self-concept changes over

time (Cherry).

For as long as we as humans have been on this earth, we have coexisted with the nature

around us. But how do we define nature? I am sure almost every person thinks about the word

nature, they think nature as all the animals, plants, and other things in a world that was not

created by humans. A common definition for nature is, the world of living things and the

outdoors (​wikipedia)​ . A place or thing that has been untouched, somewhere where civilization or

sociality has not taken over. A place where people can reconnect, with the soil, the animals, and

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plants.

What we think of when we imagine “nature” is to a high degree a new, culturally

reshaped kind of nature. A sparkling crystal clear stream, the clouds gathering before a

thunderstorm, or the enormous rock formations of the Alps—such impressive panoramas

are called wonders of nature (​Möllers).

Not everyone has the ability to go out into the depths of the wilderness, nature can even mean going out

to a small park. It can even be in the middle of a big city, for five minutes and taking a deep breath,

observing your surroundings, perhaps watching squirrels running around. Having time to reconnect with

yourself let's all your stress and worries disappear, re energize yourself, and reunite with your values.

Part III: Summary of Past Research + Analysis

Self-concept, in a broad sense, is what you understand about yourself, how you absorb

and learn about things and how these aspects make you different from others. You may have a

picture in your head of what you think you look like, or what you know you look like based off

of the relection you see in a mirror. Having this creation of yourself in your mind may make you

begin to analyze yourself in ways that perpetuate competition between yourself and others. You

may start to compare yourself to others in various ways such as “I am not as skinny as she is”, “

My hair isn’t long enough or pretty enough”, “My clothes aren’t as fancy”, “She is so much

smarter than I am”, etc. This type of thinking has a huge impact on the way in which people

stimulate their own sense of self-image or self-esteem. “​To break these down simply, your self

image is how you see yourself, your self esteem is how much you value yourself and your ideal

self is the vision you have for yourself, in other words how you wish you could be” (Perera).

People can only spend so much time dwelling on the fact that they aren’t as perfect as those

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around us, without realizing that by simply not being like everyone else, is what makes us all so

unique.

It is crucial to remember that your self-concept doesn’t always align with reality. For

example, someone might stand in front of a mirror and perceive themselves as fat, but in real life

they are skin and bones. We as human beings have a cruel tendency of being overly critical of

ourselves as well as our abilities.

Your self concept can change on a regular basis because you see and interpret

things differently depending on your feelings, beliefs and attitude. Self awareness is a

two-way process as your feelings and beliefs affect your self concept and the opposite is

also true. Awareness means becoming aware of what is actually true about yourself and

this important because you probably believe you are as you see you yourself but others

may see you quite differently (Perera).

With this in mind, we humans need to be mindful of how external factors can influence a person's

self-concept.

The formation of self-concept begins as a child believe it or not, it can be even as young

as three months old. A baby will begin to realize that they are their own individual, this happens

when they receive feedback on their interactions with the world. A baby might cry and get

attention from a parent, or they may laugh and see another person might laugh with them. These

are the types of actions that begin to set the stage for the development of self-concept. As a child

grows up their self-concept is developed through internal and external means. Because

self-concept develops throughout childhood and early adulthood, it will through constant

evolution through the person's lifespan. There are two different aspects that play a crucial role

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when it comes to the development of self concept. The first being the existential self and the

second, the categorical self. The existential self can be described as the sense of being

independent and noticeably different from others. ​The categorical self happens when you are

able to put yourself into categories, such as age, gender, size etc (Mcleod).

Factors that can influence a person's self-concept can include media, appearance,

culture, abuse, relationships, gender, and age. The media can be used to influence an individual's

self-concept, by putting images of models maybe even celebrities that may include them being

extremely underweight. Appearances may influence self-concept both positively and negatively,

an example would be pictures that are displayed on places like snapchat, instagram, facebook,

and even in advertisements that encourage people to keep up with a healthy lifestyle or even a

very unhealthy lifestyle of being anorexic. Your culture can be influenced by the way you were

raised by your parents, from being wealthy to being poor. Or by growing up on a farm and

learning how to grow your own food, to being raised by having everything handed to you. Not

to mention that not having healthy relationships such as a supportive family, friends and peers

can influence a person’s self-concept. Not sustaining these influences can lead to people having a

negative self-concept, socially. Genders can be influenced by stereotyping in society. For

example, men should play football because it can be dangerous and women should stay at home,

cook and take care of the kids because men aren’t able to do the dishes or clean are typical

stereotypes nowadays. Better yet because men bring in the majority of the income. As we age,

our self concept reshapes based on where we are in our lives.

An individual’s self-concept undergoes notable changes during development, evolving

from a structure in which diverse dominions of experience are distinguished to another

stage in which the fundamental aspects are integration and high-level abstractions. In

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summary, the development of the self-concept during the lifespan of an individual is

subjected to multiple factors of influence (​writepass​).

Self-concept is composed of two key parts, personal identity and social identity. Personal

identity includes traits that makes each of us unique. An example of this would be, our beliefs,

emotions and how we express them, and our even our characteristics. Social identity on the other

hand, is contained mostly of external factors. These would include how we identify with a

community, family, friends, religion, maybe even political groups. The best way to measure our

self-concept is to see if it matches with reality. This can be measured by using the terms

congruences and incongruence. Congruence occurs when a person’s self-concept is moderately

aligned with reality. I​ ncongruence is the opposite when a person's reality does not match up with

each individuals self-concept (Cherry). This could impact educators, therapists could use this

information with clients, and people who struggle with self-concept.

While a person’s self concept may be altered by external sources, internal sources can be

seen as an equally strong influence. Internal sources may include how you think about yourself,

or others. Am I as smart or pretty as she is? This could perhaps be things you pay attention to, or

even how you interpret certain events or situations in your life. An important measure that people

may often forget that helps them to grow, is how you choose to interpret situations in your life

from both failures to successes. The external factors include the people you choose to surround

yourself with, how people might label you, and the environments you choose to spend your time

in. “ Through rejection, judgment, ridicule, and criticism, other people often influence how you

feel about yourself, the labels you give yourself, and fundamentally what you believe about

yourself, about your own abilities, and the world around you” (Sicinski). A good thing to become

aware of is how others can have an impact on yourself-concept. You can either choose to let it

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bother you or you can go in the direction that later will probably benefit you the most, which is

the other way. You make the decisions as to whether or not you want to start developing a

healthier self-concept, or maybe even continue on a path that will only bring you down.

Within the development of self-concept there are three main stages during the life of a

child, which I have mentioned prior. Stage one consists of the age zero through two years old, in

this stage it is important for babies to have a positive sense of self, they need constant loving

relationships. Then as toddlers they begin to need gentle but firm limits, and around the age of

two they have this sense of ‘me’ because their language skills began to develop. From there at

stage two, they are between the ages of two through four years old. In this stage they begin to be

very curious as to the new things they can do, ranging from being able to through things,

matching items, experimenting, comparing, and even building sand castles. Due to this they

begin to see themselves as a separate individuals, they begin to slowly become more

independent. Finally, at stage three the ages range from four to five years olds. Where they begin

to transition from the ‘me’ to ‘us’ stage, they want to run around and play with friends. Around

the age of six years old, the kids are able to use a more advanced language and this can lead to

the children being able to define themselves on a higher level. In a nutshell adolescence is when

the development of one’s self-concept can really take off. This is where the kids are at a stage, in

which they play with this idea of self, and will begin developing the very basics of their

self-concept. These experiences will likely stay with them throughout the rest of their life. For an

adolescent, what they most desire is the attention from parents or role models (McLeod). 

It is true, taking a walk in a forest or just out in nature is good for us. We need to take a

break from the rush of our daily lives, plus who doesn’t enjoy the beauty and peacefulness of

being in a natural environment. Now, research has shown that even five to ten minutes is healthy

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for you. Now, research has shown that even five minutes, being surrounded around trees and

plants has health benefits both mentally and physically. “Results showed that those who walked

in nature experienced less anxiety, rumination,... as well as more positive emotions” (Suttie).

You could even think of it has a prescription, with no negative side effects. Not to mention it’s

free. Being outdoors can help the brain to let go, letting you be able to focus on just yourself

allowing you to reconnect with your spiritual, physical, emotional and overall well being.

Exposure to forests boosts our immune system… lowers blood pressure and improves

mood. Numerous studies show that both exercising in forests and simply sitting looking

at trees reduce blood pressure as well as the stress-related hormones cortisol and

adrenaline. Looking at pictures of trees has a similar, but less dramatic, effect... Green

spaces in urban areas are just as important as rural forests...Spending time in nature,

looking at plants, water, birds and other aspects of nature gives the cognitive portion of

our brain a break, allowing us to focus better and renew our ability to be patient

(​Immerse).

There is simply something about nature that re-establishes us, allowing us to feel better,

think better, and to deepen our understanding of ourselves and even others.

You may get captured on the exposure of being in nature, the way being in nature can

clear your mind and can help you feel more grounded and peaceful.

.. involve reflection on the emotions that contribute to our concept of self, one​ t​ hat might

include the natural world, which is our connection with nature. This fits well with my

definition of nature connection, ‘a realisation of our shared place in nature, which affects

our being – how we experience the world here and now; our emotional response, beliefs

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and attitudes towards nature...By looking inward we can realise a closer connection to

nature. From an applied perspective, we should find ways to promote self-reflection,

places to pause in nature, and ways to prompt reflection (Richardson).

Connection happens when you feel part of something bigger than yourself, because we

are humans and we have a deep need for connections, to each other, and to nature. “Connections

help create an wholesome sense basic human necessities such as meaningfulness, satisfaction,

love, nurture and etc. Connecting with nature can help us to gain perspective, calm our emotions

and reflect on personal situations. It can transform our relationship with the natural world and

even transform our relationship with ourselves” (Ellen). According to Kirsty Ellen, there are six

ways you can deepen your connection with nature. The first step is to be in nature, get outdoors.

It doesn’t have to be for very long, it can be for ten minutes, but finding time to be in nature is

key. Second, create a sit spot. Find somewhere you won’t get disturbed, take as much time as

you want to simply observe your surroundings, become part of the landscape. Third, use all your

sense, close your eyes, listen to your environment, maybe even take mental notes of how close or

far the things you hear are. Take a deep breath and experience all the smells, and allow your

senses to deepen your experience of surroundings. Fourth, sit down and it is easier to be quiet

and focused when you are connecting to nature and allow your eyes to rest on the landscape and

focus your mind on it. How do you feel in this environment? Does your mind wander from the

birds, to the plants, and then to trees? This is a great way to be in the moment, and focus your

attention on the present and put your distractions and worries away. Fifth, reflect. Ask yourself

the question what does nature teach me about myself? Lastly, share your experience, bring

someone to your place. Show them what you experienced, give someone else the gift of nature

for their sense of wellbeing (Ellen).

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Part IV: Methods and Data

To conduct my research the first step was researching the basics, ​what is self-concept?.​

Which then lead to learning about what influences self-concept, how it develops, and how it

changes over time. The next step was researching about nature and how it impacts the being.

After doing the more basic research I began to combine the two, figuring out how nature impacts

a person’s self-concept. Which in the end was very difficult because there is no research that has

been done on that specific topic. This is where I got the idea to do my own research, I started

brainstorming who I should interview and why I should be interviewing each individual. Due to

the similarity in the range in age, the subjects have had more time to develop their self-concept.

As a result, all the subjects have things in common such as being parents, and being in proximity

with age is why I choose to interview these candidates.

From there I sent out emails to the people I wanted to do my interviews with, and began

creating my interview questions. Which briefly include, describe a mental picture of yourself;

feel free to include your identity, attributes and personality traits; What are your most defining

characteristics? What makes you unique? When are you most authentically yourself? Do you

think your location influences how you see yourself? How do you think being in nature

influences how you see yourself? How do you think spending significant amounts of time inside

influences how you see yourself?

Once I had a response from the interviewees, I set up a place and time to do the

interviews. It was very important to make sure I was prepared, making sure the interviews

questions were refined and ready to go, interviews were recorded, and having follow up

questions to get the interviews with as much depth as possible. Once the interviews were

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completed I began to re-listen to the interviews and type up the key points that they had talked

about. From there I analysed all the interviews and began to break them down, finding main

themes. The first theme is, self-concept depends on the situation. The second theme is effects of

indoor versus the effects of outdoor experience on self-concept. The third theme is nature helps

individuals to reconnect with their inner selves. From there, I created my conclusions drawing

out comparisons between my original research and the research I had done from the texts.

Part V: Findings

Interviewees:

Name Age Occupation Gender Relationships

Torrey 40 Teacher Female Married,

Baldwin Mother of 2

Sue 50 Nanny Female Married,

Mcclain Mother of 3

Scott 50 Assistants Male Married, Father

Mcclain Park Director of 3

Theme 1:​ Self-concept depends on the situation​.

In every interview, each interviewee elaborated on how their self-concept changes due to

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the environment they are in, or by the people they may be surrounded by. Ms. Baldwin was

especially struck by how different she can be depending on the people she’s with. She says, “​In

different situations different parts of myself come out, so completely different parts of myself

come out as a teacher vs. hanging with friends, when with family. But they are both aspects of

myself...Or times when I feel very analytical or when I am able to let my brain shut down and I

can feel more in my body, but these are different aspects.” Ms. Mcclain appeared to be in

complete agreement, as she described how her surroundings impact how she expresses herself.

“I​ believe that I can be very energetic and vocal, very talkative. But it depends on when you

catch me, in the day and the environment I walk into” Similarly to Ms. Mcclain, Mr. McClain

knows that his sense of self varies according to his surroundings. “I am most authentically

myself when I am outdoors, or in a small groups, or when I am one on one.” All of these

interviewees shared that where they are or who they’re with can bring out different qualities

from within themselves.

​ ffects of indoor vs. outdoor experience on Self-Concept.

Theme 2: E

A second theme emerged from interviewees as they all focused on comparing

and contrasting how both the indoors and outdoors can shape their self-concept. In the interview

I did with Ms. Baldwin, she mentioned how her environment ​“I​ nside vs. outside it depends

because different traits come out and over time I get older and my sense of self is more stable.”

Ms. Mcclain appeared to have a different perspective. She shared, “I ​feel spiritual all the time,

but when I feel best physically has changed for me. It used to be when I was outside getting fresh

air, being active, but I have learned now with being a nanny that stretching inside works for me

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as well.” (Sue Mcclain) Mr.Mcclain is more set in his position, ashe feels most authentically

himself when he is outdoors. As Mr. Mcclain stated, “Being in the outdoors helps me put things

back into perspective. Too much time inside or working on a computer wears me down and

frustrates me, but having a couple of hours reading a book is nice or just doing quite activities

inside is good.” In the end, these interviews all shared that certain experiences with their

environments have an affect on their self-concept.

Theme 3:​ Nature helps individuals to reconnect with their inner selves​.

Each interviewee expanded that in the long run, nature or the outdoors helps them to

reconnect with their beliefs, values, and over all inner self. Ms. Baldwin elaborated that being in

the outdoors nurtures her sense of self. As she mentioned, “When my ​ brain turns off, I am more

in intuition. It feels that when my brain is off other parts of myself can come more to the

forefront. This has happened when I am doing vision quests, when I am alone in the desert.

Being outside/in nature allows my nervous system to come down, which helps my brain be less

domineering over my emotions, senses, my spiritual self, and my body. Nature helps my

cognitive, analytical self be less domineering. When I sees mountains around myself, I feel more

expansive. When I am indoors, I become more cognitive.” In correspondence, Ms. Mcclain also

voiced how nature “​allows me to focus just on myself, and inside I have to be more creative.” In

full agreement with Ms. Mcclain, Mr. Mcclain likewise feels as though nature placed a big role

within his self-concept. As he stated, “I feel spiritual when I am outside, in the woods, nature,

when a sun set is happening, on top of a peak. I feel best physically when I am outside, or being

active, but definitely when I am outside.” One conclusion from these interviews is that nature

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does place either a significant role with their self-concept. Allowing them to reconnect with their

inner self, meaning being able to re establish with who you truly are.

Internal Factors

All the interviews touched base on some internal factors that help create their

self-concept. For Ms. Baldwin, internal factors in her life include family and students. As she

mentions in her interview, ​“ I think of myself in relations of being a parent because that’s a really

big part of who I am right know and being a teacher, which to me feels like a relationship. I feel

that there is an aspect of myself that identifies with feeling strong, and that comes back from

being a parent.” For Ms. Mcclain, internal factors consists of being an outgoing person, as she

stated “​I consider myself a very positive person, both inside and out… I can be very energetic,

vocal and talkative… When I see negatives things but when I see it t try to pull that into a

positive situation and that challenges me and strengthens me.” For Mr. Mcclain in correlation to

Ms. Mcclain internal factors incorporate, factors such as being an optimistic person. Mr.Mcclain

voiced, “I try to be positive, I enjoy people but I also enjoy being myself, and having time to

myself. I strive to do well with things, through my life, with school, and work. I feel that I

always wants to do well, just because that’s who I am.” In result from these interviews,

components that can influence an individual's self-concept include internal factors.

External Factors

In all the interviews, each candidate expressed external factors that influenced their

self-concept. Ms. Baldwin expressed that her environment affects her self-concept. ​“I​ feel most

spiritual when I feel very connected to my body, doing yoga practice... Moving out west and

working with the wilderness therapy for 5-6 years and living in this part of the country helps me

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to feel more balance and there are other parts of myself that can speak that isn't concerned about

producing and working.” Similarly to Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Mcclain mentions more about how

being apart of the community is an important aspect to her self-concept. As she explained in her

interview, “ I choose to do things that serve others, looking back at jobs I have done. I’ve been

involved in because I feel that community is important...I try to be attuned to how others feel.”

Mr. Mcclain’s perspective contrasted with Ms. Mcclain, as he voiced how crucial family was in

his life. “​My family is definitely a priority in my life, Sue, my kids and my parents.”

Differences between interviews or inconsistencies

Ms. Baldwin mentioned that there was a main experience in her life that helped shape her

self-concept; Sue and Scott said that there wasn’t a single experience that shaped their

self-concept, but that it had slowly developed over time. In Ms. Baldwins interview, she went on

to describe her life-changing experience. “I ​was a teacher about 13 years ago, and left because I

felt very unhealthy, so I went and did this course out in the wilderness. Then I went to live in a

yoga center for a year and a half, that is what helped me turn of that perfectionist analytically

brain and let other parts of myself that I didn’t know existed be more present. Moving out west

and working with the wilderness therapy for 5-6 years and living in this part of the country

(Southwest Colorado) helped me feel more balanced” (Baldwin). While Ms. Baldwin was

sharing her experience from her young adulthood, Ms. Mcclains expanded on how her childhood

experiences shaped her. “​I believe that my experiences growing up have helped me develop my

self-concept, so anything neighborhood, and friends etc.” Mr.Mcclain also shared that his

self-concept gradually developed over time. “How I was raised and my family has been

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important, but my self-concept is more gradual. There wasn’t a time where I have changed, its

built up over time.”

In conclusion, these 3 interviews demonstrated that there is a connection of how nature

can influence a person’s self-concept. External factors can play a part in self-concept that may

include environment, family, and community. There are, however, limitations of the research

conducted, as more people need to be interviewed so additional external factors can be

considered. Additional factors might include important parts of identity like marriage status,

kids, age, race, sex. Additional research should also include more people who are

indoor-oriented.

Part VI: Discussion and Conclusions

The term self-concept is a way for people to answer the question, Who am I? Answering

this question while away from other external factors can help people distinguish the ideas and

beliefs that we have about themselves. Due to the research that has been done, it is proven that

spending time in nature or simply being outdoors makes us happier, healthier, and allows us to

reconnect with our inner self. ​The original research conducted through interviews suggests that

people feel that they have a better understanding of their self concept due to the passage of time

and having had more experiences throughout their lifetime. As they get older, they have time to

travel and explore, allowing them to create their self-concept. Because the they have been shaped

by the places and experiences they have been. ​Throughout my original research, and textual

research it has shown it supports that nature is one of the most prevalent environmental factors to

impact self-concept, as it has been found that self-concept depends on the situation, effects of

indoor as opposed to the outdoor experience, improve health, create perspective, develop

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connections, and nature helps individuals to reconnect with their inner self.

Considering the limited research that’s out there between self-concept and nature, a

complete study would need interviewing more people, to have a broader spectrum of

perspectives that will give me more conclusive results. Additional further research that should be

done: does nature have to be real, what if it is a simulation? What happens if someone doesn’t

have the chance to be in nature? How do city people respond to nature versus country people?

How does the age impact the study of self-concept? Another theme that was mentioned in my

interviews by Mr. Mcclain was how nature creates perspective, which was a main focus that

should be expanded on within further research. Further research could also include researching a

wider age range, perhaps focusing on young adults that are just moving out to being in your mind

thirties. Or being married versus not married, being a parent versus not being a parent.

Information from such research could help with therapy, teaching, and supporting people who

have a hard time finding who they are. This research could inspire people to take the time to

build their self-concept within a natural environment. There is a lot yet to be discovered within

this fascinating topic.

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Mcclain, Sue. Personal Interview. 1 February 2019.

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