Viewing nature lets your mind run free: Three experiments about the influence of viewing a nature video on cognitive coping with psychological distress

Daphne Meuwese*, Jolanda Maas, Lydia Krabbendam, Karin Dijkstra

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Viewing nature has restorative qualities that might help people cope with their personal struggles. Three lab experiments (N = 506) studied whether environment (nature vs. built) influences cognitive coping with psychological distress. Psychological distress was induced with an autobio-graphical recall task about serious regret, whereafter participants were randomly assigned to view a nature or built video. Cognitive coping (i) Quantity, (ii) Content, and (iii) Quality were hereafter assessed as well as extent and vividness of the regretful memory during the video. Results showed a higher cognitive coping Quantity (Study 1 and 3) and a higher cognitive coping Quality (All stud-ies) for the nature (vs. built) condition. Regarding cognitive coping Content, results varied across the studies. Additionally, participants reported to have thought about the experienced psychological distress to a greater extent while viewing the nature (vs. built) video. Yet they did rate viewing nature as more relaxing. We propose a two-step pathway as an underlying mechanism of restora-tion. In the first step the capacity for directed attention replenishes. Secondly, this renewed capacity is directed towards internal processes, creating the optimal setting for reflection. Hence, viewing nature allows people to truly process whatever is occupying their minds, which is ultimately reliev-ing and beneficial for mental health.

Original languageEnglish
Article number8842
Pages (from-to)1-21
Number of pages21
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume18
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Aug 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Clinical psychology
  • Coping
  • Mental health
  • Restorative environments
  • State coping scale (SCS)

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