Preference for Nature in Urbanized Societies: Stress, Restoration, and the Pursuit of Sustainability

Berg, A.E. van den; Hartig, Terry; Staats, Henk

doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.2007.00497.x

Cited by 556 publications

(332 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

296

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Recent studies have sought to identify the importance of woodland and natural landscapes for mental health (O'Brien, 2005). Other studies place contact with nature as central to our ability to maintain and restore positive psychological mood states (Kaplan, 1995;Shibata & Suzuki, 2001, 2004Van den Berg, Hartig, & Staats, 2007).…”

Section: Both In Relation To the Mother And What Searles Terms The Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature and Self—An Ambivalent Attachment?

Jordan

2009

Ecopsychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article explores how our attachment to nature is formed in our early love relationships and draws on ideas from psychodynamic theory and contemporary research in developmental psy Links Between Person and PlanetM y aim in writing this article is to propose that our love for nature and concern for the planet is intrinsically tied up with our early love relationships. Our current societal ambivalence toward nature is being sorely challenged; to acknowledge our dependency on nature is central in solving aspects of the environmental crisis in which we fi nd ourselves. From the perspective of psychodynamic theory, I will explore how the "self" is formed in early attachment to caregivers and how good attachment is central to emotional health and well-being. I will then explore how by incorporating nature into a broader system of attachment relationships it can play a central role in helping us to regulate our emotional worlds. I will explore the problem of the "split" between nature and psyche and consider why such splits form in relation to vulnerability and poor early experience. Finally I will suggest how we can heal some of these splits and foster stronger attachments to nature.In using psychodynamic ideas to illustrate the points I am making, I will go straight to the issue of anthropocentrism in my argument. A critique of my argument is that it is fundamentally anthropocentric, seeing human relatedness as the central concern in relation to our environmental crisis. There is a danger in linking psychodynamic thought with ecopsychology; all relationships, including those with nature, can be reduced to parental imagos. I would argue there has to be a movement between the intrapsychic understanding of the development of self and then how this self goes about forming object relationships, particularly with the environment. It is not nature itself that needs therapy, rather the humans who inhabit it. There is a growing body of evidence and argument that natural environments do much better without human interference (Mabey, 2008;McKibben, 1990;Terborgh, 1999). The issue of human dependency and how this becomes enacted in our relationship to nature needs to be addressed. We need to understand how complicated patterns of dependency and intimacy are constructed by humans in relation to one another and how, subsequently, these become manifest in our relationship to nature.As far back as 1960, Harold Searles proposed that, although essential psychodynamic concepts were contained within Freud's writings, Freud failed, as have others since, to explicitly acknowledge the signifi cance of the nonhuman environment in the development of human psychological life (Searles, 1960). Later writers in ecopsychology have further attempted to elaborate Freud's concepts. Roszak (1995) posited that the core of the mind is the ecological unconscious, where repression of the cosmic consciousness of man's evolutionary relationship to nature is repressed in an act ORIGINAL ARTICLE

show abstract

Section: Both In Relation To the Mother And What Searles Terms The Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature and Self—An Ambivalent Attachment?

Jordan

2009

Ecopsychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When this is coupled with the finding that humans prefer trees to buildings (van den Berg, Hartig, & Staats, 2007), it supports the conclusion that tree grids were responded to more quickly than building grids because of domain-general mechanisms:…”

Section: Trees Versus Buildingssupporting

confidence: 66%

Testing location memory for threatening and nonthreatening stimuli : implications for evolutionary psychological theorizing.

Hackländer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

______________________________________ Tamara Newtoniii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to Aoidê, Meletê, and Mnêmê.I dedicate this dissertation to Rochina Cipriani.To me they are the same.To think on her: "Questo é amore" iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Although I know that people typically don't take the time to read the acknowledgments, and many feel that they are unimportant, I believe there is a good reason they are included, which has nothing to do with convention. It lies in the fact that no one can achieve what they do without the assistance of others. Those people deserve to be acknowledged. Therefore, I will not be limiting my acknowledgment section for reasons of space preservation.I would like to begin with the Beguine. In doing so, the first person deserving of my acknowledgment is my loving wife. She has been religious in her devotion to the completion of my degree, sacrificing much. She has also been on this slow dance for the complete duration, and I believe she is nearly as excited as I am that the music has finally faded and we can step off the dance floor. I am excited to begin a post-dissertation life with her. This almost goes without saying, but the person at the University of Louisville who has had the greatest influence on me has been my mentor, Keith Lyle. My wife and I have both on occasion remarked that I "lucked out" with getting Keith as my mentor.Although Fortuna was never one of the goddesses I held in high esteem, this case may be the one exception. Keith has been everything a mentor should be: pushy and patient, critical and kind, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. The impact he has had on my progression as a researcher and writer is too immense to put into words. I can think of no other way to acknowledge his help and impact than to say this dissertation is only possible because of him.To several of the current and former members of Kentucky Wesleyan College I am also grateful. To Dr. David Oetinger for stressing the importance of precision in all vi things; to Doctors Tony Lee and Kurt Knoll for showing me the paradox of a boundless mind existing within a finite and bound universe; to Dr. Justin Rosemeier for sharing my interests in natural selection and a certain refined way of languaging with one another; to Dr. Lynette Taylor for introducing me to so many wondrous topics; to Inge Schleiden weil sie immer für mich da war; and last, but certainly not least, to Dr. Bernie Bettinelli for doing nothing less than kindling my interest in learning.My grandmother, Carol Balvin, has also had a huge impact on me. She has always been extremely kind, and is living proof that love can be unconditional. I cannot adequately express how glad I am of all the support she has given me over the years. I hope she knows how important all her care has been to any accomplishments I may have made throughout my life, including the completion of this dissertation.My sister, and the namesake of my muse, Rochina Mulvaney has unknowingly constantly pushed me to succeed. When we were growing up this sweet little ...

show abstract

“…Examples include artificial skies, animatronics and portrayal of nature via virtual reality. Key human physiological and psychological evidence to valid a Pattern 15 is in terms of: stress reduction that lowers blood pressure and heart rate (Brown, Barton & Gladwell, 2013;van den Berg, Hartig, & Staats, 2007;Tsunetsugu & Miyazaki, 2005); cognitive performance improvements through mental engagement/ attentiveness (Biederman & Vessel, 2006); and emotional, mood and preferences that positively impacts upon human attitudes and overall happiness (Barton & Pretty, 2010).…”

Section: Hypothesis 14 Patterns and Pattern Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Biophilic Design Applications: Putting Theory and Patterns into Built Environment Practice

Downton¹,

Jones²,

Zeunert³

et al. 2017

KEG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In 1984 E.O. Wilson (1984) introduced and popularized the Biophilia hypothesis defining biophilia as "the urge to affiliate with other forms of life" (Kellert & Wilson 1995: 416). Wilson’s biophilia hypothesis suggests that there is an instinctivebond between human beings and other living systems. More recently, in the USA, Browning et al (2014) have proposed ‘14 Patterns of Biophilic Design’ within a framework for linking the human biological sciences and nature to built environment design offering a series of tools for enriching design opportunities, and avenues for design applications as a way to effectively enhance the health and well-being of individuals and society. While biophilia is the theory, biophilic design as advocated by Kellert et al (2008) and Beatley (2010) internationally offers a sustainable design strategy that seeks to reconnect people with the ‘natural environment’. Overall, from what little research has been undertaken internationally in the last 10 years, there is a solid understanding as to the applied application of this theory, its principles and processes to built environment design and no research about to how to retrofit the existing urban fabric using this approach. This paper reviews the application of biophilic design in Australia, including the scope of design, health and wellbeing literature, the ‘14 Patterns of Biophilic Design’ and performative measures now unfolding, brings forward a new Biophilic Design Pattern, and considers the value the approach offers to built environment practice as well as to human and non-human occupants.

show abstract

Preference for Nature in Urbanized Societies: Stress, Restoration, and the Pursuit of Sustainability

Abstract: We live in an urbanized world. At present, about 75% of the population in developed countries lives in dense urban areas (Habitat, 2001). In theory,

Cited by 556 publications

References 38 publications

Nature and Self—An Ambivalent Attachment?

Nature and Self—An Ambivalent Attachment?

Testing location memory for threatening and nonthreatening stimuli : implications for evolutionary psychological theorizing.

Biophilic Design Applications: Putting Theory and Patterns into Built Environment Practice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About