Abstract
Nature experiences usually lead to restorative effects, such as positive affective states and reduced stress. Even watching nature compared to urban images, which are known to differ in several image properties that are processed at early stages, can lead to such effects. One potential pathway explaining how the visual input alone evokes restoration is that image properties processed at early stages in the visual system evoke positive associations. To study these automatic bottom-up processes and the role of lower-level visual processing involved in the restoring effects of nature, we conducted two studies. First, we analyzed nature and urban stimuli for a comprehensive set of image properties. Second, we investigated implicit associations in a dichotomous set of nature and urban images in three domains, namely, valence, mood, and stress restoration. To examine the role of lower-level processing in these associations, we also used stimuli that lacked the spatial information but retained certain image properties of the original photographs (i.e., phase-scrambled images). While original nature images were associated with “good,” “positive mood,” and “restoration,” urban images were associated with “bad” and “stress.” The results also showed that image properties differ between our nature and urban images and that they contribute to the implicit associations with valence, although spatial information and therefore recognition of the environment remained necessary for positive associations. Moreover, lower-level processed image properties seem to play no or only minor roles for associations with mood and stress restoration.
Highlights
Natural compared to urban environments are preferred by humans and are associated with more positive valence (e.g., Kaplan, 1987; Berto, 2007; Sánchez et al, 2016; but see Meidenbauer et al, 2019)
This leads to our primary research question: How does viewing nature affect restoration outcomes? To address this question, we investigated automatic associations with nature and urban images as well as the role of early visual processing for such associations
The positive associations for original nature images are in line with the theories in the field (ART, stress recovery theory (SRT), and perceptual fluency account (PFA)), which assume higher preference, positive affective states, and/or restoration for nature sceneries (Ulrich, 1983; Kaplan, 1995; Joye and van den Berg, 2011)
Summary
Natural compared to urban environments are preferred by humans and are associated with more positive valence (e.g., Kaplan, 1987; Berto, 2007; Sánchez et al, 2016; but see Meidenbauer et al, 2019). Watching images of nature compared to watching images of urban environments can already elicit restoration effects on Implicit Associations With Nature certain measures of attention, mood, and parasympathetic activity (Hartig et al, 1996; Berto, 2005; Berman et al, 2008; Gamble et al, 2014; van den Berg et al, 2015). This finding suggests that isolated visual input is sufficient to evoke the reported effects. We present relevant theories in the field of restoration evoked by nature, characteristics of nature and urban images, the processing of such properties, and their relation to naturalness, affective evaluations, and restoration
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