Emotions, connectedness to nature and sustainable behaviour: Investigating the effects of students’ engagement in extracurricular activities with living animals

Several studies have shown how first-hand experiences with living animals can foster students’ connectedness to nature, even if there have been no studies on topic-specific emotions and sustainable behaviour. Using a retrospective questionnaire with qualitative and quantitative data from a cross-sectional sample of 211 school students, we investigated (1) predictors and (2) qualitative causes for experiencing enjoyment or fear when working with bees, (3) predictors of inclusion of nature in self (INS) and (4) predictors of attitudes towards sustainable behaviour. A subgroup of the students took part in an extracurricular activity focused on learning about honey bees (Apis mellifera) in a bee club. While the attendance in the bee club and individual demographic factors predicted the INS, the students reported different causes for these emotions. Furthermore, INS and enjoyment were predictors of students’ attitudes towards sustainable behaviour. Using a mediation model, we found that the bee club also fostered sustainable behaviour through INS as a mediator. Even when further studies are needed to clarify the causality and further antecedents of students’ emotions such as values, the results show how primary nature experiences from working with bees are connected to sustainable behaviour by fostering connectedness to nature and positive emotions.