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Into the Woods or a Stroll in the Park: How Virtual Contact with Nature Impacts Positive and Negative Affect
This study examined the effects of virtual contact with nature on positive and negative affect, and investigated the psychological process of perceived restorativeness as a mediator of this relationship. A sample of 220 Australians aged between 18 and 75 years (M = 49.07, SD = 14.34, female = 72%) p...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5551224/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28708074 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14070786 |
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author | McAllister, Elizabeth Bhullar, Navjot Schutte, Nicola S. |
author_facet | McAllister, Elizabeth Bhullar, Navjot Schutte, Nicola S. |
author_sort | McAllister, Elizabeth |
collection | PubMed |
description | This study examined the effects of virtual contact with nature on positive and negative affect, and investigated the psychological process of perceived restorativeness as a mediator of this relationship. A sample of 220 Australians aged between 18 and 75 years (M = 49.07, SD = 14.34, female = 72%) participated in the study. Participants were randomly allocated to one of the three experimental conditions experienced through video presentations: (1) ‘wild’ nature, (2) ‘urban’ nature, and (3) non-nature control. They then completed measures of perceived restorativeness as well as positive and negative affect. Compared to the non-nature control condition, the experience of wild nature resulted in significantly higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect. The experience of urban nature resulted in significantly lower levels of negative affect only compared to the non-nature control video. Experience of wild and urban nature resulted in greater perceptions of restorativeness as compared to the non-nature control video. Restorativeness was a significant underlying psychological mediating path through which nature experience exerted its influence on affect. These results have the potential to inform nature-based green care interventions for mental health as well as for urban planning to maximize beneficial effects of natural environments. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5551224 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-55512242017-08-11 Into the Woods or a Stroll in the Park: How Virtual Contact with Nature Impacts Positive and Negative Affect McAllister, Elizabeth Bhullar, Navjot Schutte, Nicola S. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article This study examined the effects of virtual contact with nature on positive and negative affect, and investigated the psychological process of perceived restorativeness as a mediator of this relationship. A sample of 220 Australians aged between 18 and 75 years (M = 49.07, SD = 14.34, female = 72%) participated in the study. Participants were randomly allocated to one of the three experimental conditions experienced through video presentations: (1) ‘wild’ nature, (2) ‘urban’ nature, and (3) non-nature control. They then completed measures of perceived restorativeness as well as positive and negative affect. Compared to the non-nature control condition, the experience of wild nature resulted in significantly higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect. The experience of urban nature resulted in significantly lower levels of negative affect only compared to the non-nature control video. Experience of wild and urban nature resulted in greater perceptions of restorativeness as compared to the non-nature control video. Restorativeness was a significant underlying psychological mediating path through which nature experience exerted its influence on affect. These results have the potential to inform nature-based green care interventions for mental health as well as for urban planning to maximize beneficial effects of natural environments. MDPI 2017-07-14 2017-07 /pmc/articles/PMC5551224/ /pubmed/28708074 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14070786 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article McAllister, Elizabeth Bhullar, Navjot Schutte, Nicola S. Into the Woods or a Stroll in the Park: How Virtual Contact with Nature Impacts Positive and Negative Affect |
title | Into the Woods or a Stroll in the Park: How Virtual Contact with Nature Impacts Positive and Negative Affect |
title_full | Into the Woods or a Stroll in the Park: How Virtual Contact with Nature Impacts Positive and Negative Affect |
title_fullStr | Into the Woods or a Stroll in the Park: How Virtual Contact with Nature Impacts Positive and Negative Affect |
title_full_unstemmed | Into the Woods or a Stroll in the Park: How Virtual Contact with Nature Impacts Positive and Negative Affect |
title_short | Into the Woods or a Stroll in the Park: How Virtual Contact with Nature Impacts Positive and Negative Affect |
title_sort | into the woods or a stroll in the park: how virtual contact with nature impacts positive and negative affect |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5551224/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28708074 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14070786 |
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