Night-sky watching attitudes among college students: a preliminary investigation

College Student Journal, June, 2003 by William E. Kelly

Night-sky watching attitudes were explored using a small sample (N = 45) of college students. Responses to questions regarding students' interest in, enjoyment of, mood improvement related to, and thoughts related to watching the night-sky were evaluated. Generally, positive attitudes towards watching the night-sky were reported. One general factor, interpreted as an emotional attachment to the night-sky (noctcaelador), was identified accounting for a large percentage of variance in night-sky watching attitudes. Directions for future research are offered.

**********

For much of recorded history, humans have been watching the night-sky (Eddy, 1979; Hawkins, 1983). Historically, individuals have watched the night-sky for aesthetic appreciation, to gain insight, and predict the future (Brashear & Lewis, 2001; Hawkins, 1983; Motz & Weaver, 1995; Ruggles & Hoskin, 1999). While no estimates are available to indicate the quantity of individuals who watch the night-sky, the number is likely to be substantial.

At the time of this writing, for instance, on one Internet search engine (Yahoo), over 700 Internet groups around the world were devoted to night-sky watching. Nearly 500 of these were devoted to amateur astronomy. Because individuals may belong to several groups simultaneously, it is difficult to determine a total of how many individuals are involved in such groups. However, these Internet groups combined have several thousand members. If nothing else, these numbers are indicative of a wide-spread interest in night-sky watching.

It is possible, then, that a large quantity of general college students (outside of astronomy students) informally watch the night-sky. However, currently no research investigating this topic is available. To better understand college students, it might be useful to understand the importance that college students' ascribe to this historically valuable aspect of life. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to gain a preliminary understanding of college students' night-sky watching attitudes.

Method

Participants

Participants included 45 students (28 females) enrolled in undergraduate and graduate counseling courses at a mid-sized public university in the southwestern United States. The mean age for the sample was 36 years (SD = 12.1), ranging from 19-67.

Procedure and Instrumentation

After obtaining informed consent, a questionnaire packet was administered in group settings. The questionnaire included the following six items: (1) Do you have any interest, even a passing interest, in astronomy? (2) Do you enjoy looking at the sky, or that which is in the sky, at night? (3) Do you look at the night-sky often? (4) Have you ever felt better, or calmer, when looking at the night-sky? (5) Are you curious, in any way, about the night-sky and/or what is in the night-sky? (6) What do you think of when you see the term "nightsky"? Items 1-5 were responded to on a 3-point scale (1 = no, 2 = not sure, 3 = yes). Item six was responded to using an open-response format.

Results

The average score for Item 1 was a 2.4, indicating a slight interest in astronomy. The average score for Item 2 was a 2.9, indicating strong enjoyment in watching the night-sky. The average for Item 3 was 2.5, indicating a tendency to look at the night-sky somewhat frequently. The average score for Item 4 was 2.9, indicating that watching the night-sky improved mood. The average score for Item 5 was 2.7, suggesting a tendency to be curious about the night-sky.

Item 6 asked participants what came to mind when they saw the term "night sky." The majority of students (n = 36) referred to the darkness of the night sky and the celestial bodies. A few (n = 6) indicated that the term brought to mind calm and peacefulness. Two responded that they were amazed with the night sky, and one reported religious connotations.

To explore the shared variance of nightsky watching attitudes, responses to items 1-5 were subjected to a principal components factor analysis. All items loaded on one factor which accounted for 47% of the systematic variance in responses. Thus, it appears that one underlying construct might account for night-sky attitudes.

Discussion

Three general findings were obtained from this study: (1) the sample reported a strong interest in the night-sky, (2) there are individual differences in thoughts regarding the night sky, and (3) there exists an underlying construct that accounts for a large percentage of the variance in nightsky watching attitudes. Also of interest are two more specific findings: participants strongly enjoyed watching the night-sky and had an improved mood from watching the night-sky.

The finding that strong enjoyment and improved mood, the two highest average responses, loaded with curiosity, interest, and night-sky watching behavior on one factor, or construct (Nunnally, 1978), suggests that one major component of individuals' night-sky attitudes might be an emotional attachment to the night-sky. Such a construct might be similar to place attachment (Altman & Low, 1992), an emotional attachment to specific places. Altman and Low report that places to which individuals are attached, and adore, provoke improved mood, enjoyment, and affect behavior. The night-sky might mentally be considered a special place for individuals, despite their probable physical inability to be there.