Active Use of the Natural Environment for Emotion Regulation

Abstract

Two studies on the use of nature for emotion regulation were conducted. Study 1 (N = 35) ran over two weeks and was an experimental investigation. Participants in the experimental condition were asked to use a picture of nature actively as environmental stimuli for emotion regulation in their everyday life, while two control groups simply looked at a picture of nature or a picture of balloons each evening. A significant effect of the manipulation was found on positive mood, but the effect was complex with an initial increase and then a decrease. There were no findings on negative mood. Study 2 (N = 473) explored the motivational tendency to seek out nature when the participants were happy or sad. A novel concept (expectancy construct) was introduced to measure the perception of the emotion regulatory potential of different environments. The classical natural environment was rated highest on emotional potential of all environments tested here. Perceiving a higher emotional potential in nature was related to a higher intention to seek out nature when happy or sad. Personality and mood were also related to these concepts. Higher positive mood was related to the intention to seek out nature when happy. Conscientiousness was related to a more positive perception of nature. The studies support the notion that using nature may be an effective strategy for regulating one's emotions.

Using Nature-Based Rehabilitation to Restart a Stalled Process of Rehabilitation in Individuals with Stress-Related Mental Illness

“…Enhanced emotional balance and well-being through nature exposure have been reported [ 51 , 52 ], offering further support for the interpretation of the results of our study as having a connection to nature experiences.…”

Acute sleep loss induces signs of visual discomfort in young men

“…In contrast, acute sleep loss neither affected the slope constant nor pleasure ratings of images of close-ups. Studies have shown that natural scenes regulate emotions in a positive way (Johnsen & Rydstedt, 2013;Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015). Indeed, one can improve people's directed-attention abilities and increase their positive emotions by placing them in a natural environment, or even simply making them view natural scenes (Berman, Jonides, & Kaplan, 2008;Berman et al, 2012;Nisbet & Zelenski, 2011).…”

Der bestirnte Himmel über mir und das moralische Gesetz in mir

“…In diesen Studien zeigte sich immer wieder das Folgende (34,35): Wenn wir Natur erleben und uns wirklich auf sie einlassen, dann fühlen wir uns besser gestimmt (25), haben unsere Emotionen besser im Griff (18), können uns wieder besser konzentrieren (19), fühlen uns weniger gestresst (8) und fühlen uns anderen Menschen näher verbunden, d. h. wir haben mehr Mitgefühl und sind empathischer und großzügiger (39,42). Wer sich mit der Natur verbunden fühlt, kann sich besser in einen anderen Menschen hineinversetzen (25) und verhält sich anderen gegenüber wohlwollender (12).…”