Our beliefs about the world impact how we interact with and move through the world. They also impact the ways in which we teach our children to move through and interact with the world. Perhaps more importantly, these beliefs impact our sense of well-being, our motivation, our curiosity, and even our success. That’s the message of an emerging body of research led by a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. After categorizing more than 2 billion statements beginning with “The world is…” and then compiling them into more than 1,700 claims about the nature of the world, they found three core questions about the world that shape our beliefs:

• Is the world safe or dangerous?
• Is the world enticing or dull?
• Is the world alive or mechanistic?

Research suggests that the more pessimistic view of the world as dangerous, dull, and mechanistic predicts lower life satisfaction, poorer health, “diminished flourishing,” and increased risk of suicide. On the other hand, children who grow up with a more positive view of the world as generally safe, enticing, and alive, tend to feel better and do better. They exhibit greater curiosity, greater motivation, and greater engagement with the world. As you can imagine, the positive view lends itself toward a greater sense of well-being, greater resilience, and general success in our world.

These messages can be communicated to our children in obvious and subtle ways. We can subtly communicate the world as a dangerous place by constantly exhibiting fear that our children might be hurt…or kidnapped…or killed. We also communicate the world as a dangerous place through statements such as “Be careful,” “It’s dangerous out there,” or “There’s a lot of crazy people in the world.” On the other hand, the world becomes a safer place when we communicate an excitement to hear about what our children have experienced while away from home. We also communicate that the world is generally safe when we tell our children to “Have fun” or ” watch for whatever adventure awaits you today,” or “you’ll meet some amazing, kind people in your life.” Talking about people who have engaged in altruistic acts or simple acts of kindness in history and in our daily lives encourages our children to see the world as a generally safe place filled with good people. Exploring experiences that they find pleasurable and life-enhancing during the day also promotes a sense of the world as generally safe, as does talking about times in which they cooperated with others to achieve some positive end (whether it be completing a school project or helping someone stranded on the side of the street).

The world becomes enticing when we intently listen to our children describe their positive experiences and adventures in the world. When we describe the beauty around us, point out the abundant provision of our world, or laugh about the funny things we experience in the world, we are building an enticing world in which to live. We paint the world as worth exploring as we go on family adventures like hiking, boating, biking, sightseeing, caving…the list goes on. There is so much in the world that you can experience as a family that will reveal the world as an enticing place to live. There are adventures, treasures, and new joys around every corner.

Our children begin to see the world as alive when we point out the mutual flourishing of nature and people, the ways in which nature supports human flourishing and humans impact nature’s flourishing. As our fascination over the relationships among and between nature and people grows, our sense of the world as alive grows as well. Respect for nature increases and our desire to discover the purpose in our mutual interaction with nature grows stronger. When we intentionally help our children develop a view of the world as safe, enticing, and alive, we promote their sense of well-being. We increase the chances that they will become more engaged in the world, exhibit greater resilience, and live a healthier, more flourishing life. I don’t know about you, but that’s a goal worth working toward.

(PS–If you want to learn about your beliefs in these areas and help with the research, take the survey at Take the Survey – Home.)