Adaptive Effects of Seeing Green Environment on Psychophysiological Parameters When Walking or Running

Abstract

Several studies have investigated the influence of perceiving colors on affective outcomes and/or performance. However, the effects of seeing colors on self-selected behaviors have received little attention from physiologists and psychologists. Therefore, the present study aimed at examining whether exposure to green and red environments could influence affective judgments, perception of effort, heart rate, and gait speeds when walking and running at a self-selected pace. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions: Green, red, or white (neutral) environment. The experimental task consisted in a 20-min trial of either walking (Study 1) or running (Study 2) at the most comfortable speed on a treadmill surrounded by three large HD TV screens displaying specific properties of the studied colors. Study 1 revealed that walking in a green environment induced a significant reduction in heart rate values as compared to the red and white conditions although no differences in gait speed were found. This corroborates the calming and relaxing effect of green on the human organism. Study 2 showed that running in a green environment was associated with an increased level of perceived exertion at similar speeds (compared to other color conditions), while exposure to red induced a significant decrease in the level of tension. In both studies, the preferred gait speed was not affected by the colored environment which is discussed in relation to the energy-conservation principle. Furthermore, both studies showed that performing a 20-min walk or run at preferred pace presented beneficial mood changes. Implications of the effects of self-selected exercise under colored environments on human functioning are addressed in the discussion.

Foliage colors improve relaxation and emotional status of university students from different countries

“…The positive responses could be attributed to the association between green color and nature, grass, and trees and remind observers both outside and spring. The results of the study seem to support that seeing green plants can have relaxing effects for the Japanese as appeared by decreasing Oxy-Hb in the feeling area and might affect the motor skill for Egyptians as demonstrated by increased Oxy-Hb in the motor area [53,54]. Previous studies showed that green color was the most efficient color for mental comfort [55,56].…”

The Effects of Green and Urban Walking in Different Time Frames on Physio-Psychological Responses of Middle-Aged and Older People in Chengdu, China

“…As speculated previously, visual experience might play an important role in green walking [ 30 ]. A simulation by Briki and Majed [ 31 ] has confirmed the calming and relaxing effect of the color green on the human organism, which further implied the importance of visual interacting with plants during green walking. As the night went on, though considerable lights were placed in the green space, the illumination situation was still the worst due to the shading of tree crowns ( Table 3 ).…”

“…Theoretically, visual experience plays an important role in green walking [ 30 ], and greenness of plants can help to achieve positive changes in physical and mental indices [ 31 ]. Therefore, improper lighting at night may interfere with the cognition of greenness and thus reduce the effects from natural elements.…”

Gaining or Losing Team Ball Possession: The Dynamics of Momentum Perception and Strategic Choice in Football Coaches

“…In addition, the experimenters asked the two experts to use either the color white or the color gray (which are achromatic colors) as jersey colors of the two teams. We avoided chromatic colors, such as red, blue, or green, since studies evidenced that such colors could influence affective judgments and physiological states (e.g., Recours and Briki, 2015; Briki and Hue, 2016; Briki and Majed, 2019). Furthermore, the experimenters demanded that TBP simulations would contain only passes, which had to be carried out in a diversity of directions in the region of the center circle of the football pitch (see Figure 2).…”