The influence of spending time outside on experience of nature and environmental attitudes

Colléony, Agathe; White, Rachel L.; Shwartz, Assaf

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.03.010

Cited by 47 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 53 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…There are other important outcomes of encouraging people to visit actual natural settings of course. Living vegetation and other features provide myriad ecosystem services beyond the cultural domain that encompasses human health and well-being, such as provisioning of food and clean water (Bratman et al, 2019 ; Keeler et al, 2019 ), which can be better realized by local residents if a connection with these settings is built over repeated visitation (Richardson et al, 2016 ; Colléony et al, 2019 ; Rosa and Collado, 2019 ). Finally, ethical sensibilities could encourage the protection of the possibility for other forms of life to develop and thrive, entirely aside from their utility to humans (Leopold, 1949 ; Hartig, 1993 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Actual Natural Setting Improves Mood Better Than Its Virtual Counterpart: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Data

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accumulating evidence indicates that simulated natural settings can engage mechanisms that promote health. Simulations offer alternatives to actual natural settings for populations unable to travel outdoors safely; however, few studies have contrasted the effects of simulations of natural settings to their actual outdoor counterparts. We compared the impacts of simulated and actual natural settings on positive and negative affect (mood) levels using a pooled sample of participants enrolled in extant experimental studies. Relevant articles were identified from a review of research published/in press by March 2020 and updated during the peer review of the current study. Of 16 articles identified, 6 met the inclusion criteria and administered a single cross-cutting, standardized instrument [the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)] before and after exposure. Random effects meta-analysis of pooled effects showed that positive affect increased in the actual settings but not in their simulated counterparts (Hedge's g = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.54, 1.20). We observed little difference in effects on negative affect change scores (g = −0.28; 95% CI, −0.62, 0.06), with studies generally showing reductions in negative affect in both settings. Further research with additional populations, settings, antecedent conditions, and durations would provide a more robust understanding of differences in effects between these two ways to enhance mood by viewing nature.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Actual Natural Setting Improves Mood Better Than Its Virtual Counterpart: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Data

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Consistently, it has been demonstrated that merely spending more time in nature is not enough to foster concern for the natural environment and that more conscious engagement with nature is crucial (Colléony et al. 2019). Indeed, positive correlations between species diversity, vegetation cover, and well‐being and health occur (Marselle et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…2018; Colléony & Shwartz 2019; Colléony et al. 2019). Because people's affinity for nature plays a significant role in the way they interact with nature (e.g., Lin et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting meaningful and positive nature interactions for visitors to green spaces

Colléony

Levontin

Shwartz

2020

Conservation Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The increasing alienation of people from nature is profoundly concerning because people's interactions with nature affect well-being, affinity for nature, and support of biodiversity conservation. Efforts to restore or enhance people's interactions with nature are, therefore, important to ensure sustainable human and wildlife communities, but little is known about how this can be achieved. A key factor that shapes the way people interact with nature is their affinity for nature (often measured as nature relatedness [NR]). We explored how using cues to experience nature as a means to induce NR situationally can influence the quality of people's nature interactions on visits to green spaces and their positive affect after the visit. Cues to experience are cues that guide individuals on how to interact with nature. We surveyed 1023 visitors to a nature reserve to examine the relationships between trait (i.e., stable and long-lasting) and state (i.e., temporary, brief) NR, the quality of nature interactions, and positive affect. We also conducted a controlled experiment in which 303 participants spent 30 min outdoors on campus and reported the quality of their nature interactions and positive affect. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 9 cues-to-experience experimental groups (e.g., smell flowers, observe wildlife, turn off your phone) that differed in the psychological distance from nature that they prompted. Participants who received cues of close psychological distance from nature (e.g., smell and touch natural elements) interacted 3 to 4 times more with nature and reported 0.2 more positive affect than other participants. Our results demonstrate that providing cues to experience nature, which bring people closer to nature and potentially induce state NR, can enhance the quality of people's nature interactions and their positive affect. These results highlight the role of NR in high-quality nature interactions and suggest the use of cues to experience as a promising avenue for inducing state NR and promoting meaningful interactions with biodiversity, thus, reconciling conservation and well-being objectives.

show abstract

“…As urbanization continues at an alarming rate, it not only threatens biodiversity but also increasingly separates people from the natural environment [1], which is directly linked to undesirable social-related health diseases such as obesity, diabetes, depression, and mental fatigue [2,3]. During the last decade, many studies have demonstrated a positive association between nature and individuals’ health [4,5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Psychophysiological Restoration and Individual Preference in the Different Environments Based on Virtual Reality

Gao

Tian

Zhu

et al. 2019

IJERPH

149

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accumulated evidence claims that urban green spaces (UGS) have a positive impact on the physical and mental health of humans. However, little information is available to clearly reveal what the most important driving factors are for human psychophysiological restoration. In order to unveil this uncertainty, this study employed virtual reality (VR) technology to investigate the physiological (electroencephalogram, EEG), and psychological (attention, positive mood, negative mood) responses and individual preferences for different urban environments. Participants (120) were recruited and randomly assigned to experience six different types of environments varying in land use and vegetation structures, which were: Grey space, blue space, open green space, partly open green space, partly closed green space, and closed green space. The results showed that the experience of the six environmental types through VR devices had positive restorative effects on the individuals’ attentional fatigue and negative mood; however, all the participants obtained the highest levels of physiological stress restoration when asked to close their eyes for relaxation. The physiological measurements of the EEG showed no significant differences among the selected types of environments. Meanwhile, the results of the psychological measures suggested that only negative mood showed significant differences of change among the six types of environments, and while the partly open green space had the most positive effect on negative mood, the closed green space had the worst. The blue space and partly closed green space received higher recreational preference ratings than the other four environments, while the closed green space received the lowest recreational preference rating. Moreover, the findings showed that there was a strong positive correlation between people’s preferences and the improvement of their positive mood. This indicated that as the popularity of a natural environment increased, so did the benefits of human health and well-being. In addition, this study shows that VR technology may be utilized as a possible surrogate measure to real scenes in evaluating human physiological and psychological restoration in the future. The present findings can provide the theoretical basis and practical guidance for future optimal planning of urban restorative environments.

show abstract

The influence of spending time outside on experience of nature and environmental attitudes

Cited by 47 publications

References 53 publications

An Actual Natural Setting Improves Mood Better Than Its Virtual Counterpart: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Data

An Actual Natural Setting Improves Mood Better Than Its Virtual Counterpart: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Data

Promoting meaningful and positive nature interactions for visitors to green spaces

Exploring Psychophysiological Restoration and Individual Preference in the Different Environments Based on Virtual Reality

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About