Preference For Natural Environments Research Articles

The influence of individual characteristics on perceived restorativeness and benefits associated with exposure to nature in a garden.

This study newly explored the relationship between individual characteristics (i.e., connectedness to nature, a preference for natural rather than built environments, personality, visuospatial preferences) with perceived restorativeness, as well as affective and memory-related benefits of exposure to the nature. Eighty adults were individually exposed to nature by walking in a landscape garden. Measures of connectedness to nature, preference for natural environments, personality traits, and visuospatial preferences were administered. Before and after walking in the garden, participants completed measures of affect (positive and negative emotions) and memory (short-term and working memory, and spatial memory). After walking they completed a Perceived Restorativeness scale. Perceived Restorativeness was found to be significantly explained by Extraversion (personality trait) and Connectedness to Nature. There was no significant influence of individual characteristics on benefits to affect and memory measures. Overall, the results showed that perception of the restorative effect of a natural environment is related to connectedness to nature and personality (extraversion trait). Taken together, our findings highlight the importance of considering individual characteristics to better capture restorative/recovery effects of a natural environment in an individual, and to tailor/implement nature-based solutions to ensure a sustainable urban green environment and to promote quality of life for their citizens.

The Influence of Physical Burden on the Esthetic Preference for Green Natural Environment

The perception of beauty is known to be associated with the bodily sensations and evolutionary implications. However, whether the esthetic preference for natural landscape environments with different evolutionary benefits changes on the basis of different degrees of bodily sensations is still an open issue. The present study used four experiments to address this issue. The results showed that participants wearing a heavy backpack gave higher esthetic scores to and generate a strong attentional bias toward the green natural landscapes. Furthermore, the implicit association test (IAT) revealed that a green natural landscape was more readily associated with a high level of relaxation when the participants wore a backpack. The results indicated that the bodily sensation of a physical burden modulates the esthetic preference for natural environments when they consist of green plants, which are associated with a high level of relaxation and have significant evolutionary implications.

The Impacts of Symmetry in Architecture and Urbanism: Toward a New Research Agenda

Architecture has an ancient relationship to mathematics, and symmetry—in the broad sense of the term—is a core topic of both. Yet the contemporary application of theories of symmetry to architecture and built environments is a surprisingly immature area of research. At the same time, research is showing a divergence between the benefits of and preferences for natural environments on the one hand, and built environments on the other, demonstrating relatively deleterious effects of many contemporary built environments. Yet the research cannot yet pinpoint the actual geometric factors of architecture and urbanism that could produce such an important divergence. This paper explores this research gap, surveying the literature across a range of fields, and assessing current evidence for the impacts of symmetry in the built environment upon human perception and well-being. As an emerging case study, it considers the recent work by Christopher Alexander and Nikos Salingaros, two trained mathematicians who have made notable contributions to architecture and urbanism. The conclusion proposes a new research agenda toward further development of this immature subject area.

Nature With a Human Touch: Human-Induced Alteration Negatively Impacts Perceived Naturalness and Preferences for Natural Environments

Natural environments vary in the degree to which humans have altered them; some environments, like wilderness areas, are relatively untouched, while others, like urban green spaces, are heavily manicured. The current research examined the effect of human-induced alteration to natural environments on perceived naturalness and environmental preferences in a student sample (Study 1) and a sample of nonstudent adults (Study 2). It was predicted that a human-altered natural environment would be viewed as less natural than a non-altered natural environment. It was also predicted that a human-altered natural environment would be viewed more negatively than a non-altered natural environment. Results largely supported these predictions. Human-altered natural environments were viewed as less natural than non-altered natural environments, and across several indicators of environmental preference, participants responded more negatively to human-altered natural environments than non-altered natural environments. Perceived naturalness mediated the effect of human-induced alteration on each environmental preference variable, suggesting that non-altered environments are preferred because they are viewed as more natural than their human-altered counterparts. These findings are consistent with an evolutionary account of non-altered natural environments offering more benefits and entailing fewer costs than human-altered natural environments. Key Words: Nature—Naturalness—Environmental preferences—Human impact—Conservation.

Ecopsychology and Evolutionary Psychology: Implications and Limitations of Habitat Selection Theory

This paper discusses how evolutionary psychology can be applied to ecopsychology, with particular emphasis on habitat selection theory as a way of making sense of preferences for natural environments. We argue that the usefulness of habitat selection theory is limited by a prevailing view of “slow” human evolution, where humans are seen to be best adapted to a hunter-gatherer way of life on the African savanna. Research suggests otherwise, that humans have adapted to a range of different environments and have continued to evolve since the birth of agriculture. Thus, humans today do not long for the African savanna. Implications follow for future research in ecopsychology and the design of the built environment. Key Words: Ecopsychology—Evolutionary psychology—Environmental psychology—Habitat selection—Biophilia.

Children's Use of Nature in New Zealand Playgrounds

Children value natural environments, which also provide developmental benefits for children. Many studies, however, have used self-report techniques to examine children’s preference for natural environments. We used observational timesampling methods to document children’s behavior at 56 playgrounds in New Zealand in order to determine their preference, in terms of rate of use, for natural elements compared to built play equipment. Overall, children spent 14 percent of their total time playing on, or with, natural elements. Both boys and girls used natural elements, with boys using them more than girls. Natural elements were usually physically separated from built playground equipment, which may have contributed to their lower use. Children tended to use natural elements more when a greater diversity of natural elements was available. Natural elements afford more diverse play opportunities than do built play items, and are also subject to seasonal variation, making them important features of community playgrounds.

Children's Use of Nature in New Zealand Playgrounds

Children value natural environments, which also provide developmental benefits for children. Many studies, however, have used self-report techniques to examine children's preference for natural environments. We used observational time-sampling methods to document children's behavior at 56 playgrounds in New Zealand in order to determine their preference, in terms of rate of use, for natural elements compared to built play equipment. Overall, children spent 14 percent of their total time playing on, or with, natural elements. Both boys and girls used natural elements, with boys using them more than girls. Natural elements were usually physically separated from built playground equipment, which may have contributed to their lower use. Children tended to use natural elements more when a greater diversity of natural elements was available. Natural elements afford more diverse play opportunities than do built play items, and are also subject to seasonal variation, making them important features of community playgrounds.

Experimental mood manipulation does not induce change in preference for natural landscapes.

According to evolutionary theory, emotions are psychological mechanisms that have evolved to enhance fitness in specific situations by motivating appropriate (adaptive) behavior. Taking this perspective, a previous study examined the relationship between mood and preference for natural environments. It reported that participants' anxiety level was associated with a preference for landscapes offering what Appleton called "refuge," while participants' anger and cheerfulness were both associated with a preference for landscapes offering what Appleton called "prospect." We attempted to replicate these results and to improve on the study by experimentally manipulating mood. Using a between-subjects design, 80 participants were instructed to self-induce one of four moods: anger, sadness, anxiety, or joy. After the mood induction, they viewed fourteen landscape photographs and recorded the seven most preferred. It was hypothesized that subjects experiencing anger or joy would prefer landscapes rich in "prospect" features, whereas participants experiencing sadness or anxiety would prefer landscapes rich in "refuge" features. In contrast to the previous study, the predictions were not supported: artificially induced moods may not provide ecological validity as a test of the "mood as motivator" model; alternatively, the first study may have reported an alpha error. To see whether the model has practical value, we recommend a study of landscape preference using participants with clinically significant levels of mood dysphoria.