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The Plymouth Student Scientist

Document Type

Psychology Article

Abstract

The world is facing a mental health crisis, thus implementing measures to improve wellbeing is a global priority. One way of combating this worldwide issue is through the well-known wellbeing benefits of nature. However, natural environments include more than just the well-known green spaces, and wellbeing encompasses multiple components. Consequently, this study compares the wellbeing outcomes of virtual exposure to a green space, blue space, and urban environment on both hedonic (pleasure) and eudaimonic wellbeing (meaningfulness). A factorial design was employed in which 96 University of Plymouth students watched one stressor video and then one of three environment videos (green, blue, or urban). To obtain the data, hedonic wellbeing was recorded before and after a stressor clip and after seeing an environmental video. Eudaimonic wellbeing was also measured after each video. Results from the wellbeing questionnaires revealed that exposure to natural environments led to an increase in hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing, with no differences between green and blue spaces. Interestingly, the results also revealed that exposure to the urban environment had a detrimental effect on eudaimonic wellbeing, the wellbeing component associated with long-term and enduring wellbeing. As such, it is suggested that nature not only improves wellbeing, but may also provide a buffer against the harmful effects of urban environments. These results are supported by psycho-evolutionary theories which suggest that humans are innately drawn to nature, and that fulfilling this need leads to enhanced wellbeing. Consequently, this research highlights the ways in which wellbeing can be improved by virtual exposure to natural environments, as well as revealing the potential harmful psychological effects of exposure to urban environments. This has direct implications for the implementation of targeted nature-based policies and interventions designed to improve psychological wellbeing.

Publication Date

2024-07-29

Publication Title

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Volume

17

Issue

1

First Page

28

Last Page

51

ISSN

1754-2383

Deposit Date

2024-07-29

Embargo Period

2024-07-29

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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