PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE ENVIRONMENT AS STIMULUS FOR DIRECTED ATTENTION RESTORATION AND STRESS MITIGATION HENRY OJOBO (PB113096) PhD Candidate Supervisors Dr. Sapura Mohamad Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ismail Said Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia 9 th December 2015
INTRODUCTION 2 mental stress results from interactions between persons and their environment that are perceived as straining or exceeding their adaptive capacities and threatening their well being (Annerstedt et al. 2010). landscape studies Healthcare management urbanization, cardiovascular diseases, lifestyle changes, anxiety disorders, obesity and ameliorating potentials of depression (Lee and Oh, 2010; nature related environments Probst, 2013) (Hartig et al. , 2014) Directed attention phenomenon plays a major role in human capacity and its restoration is dependent upon the components of the environment. Kaplan (1995)
3 INTRODUCTION Components of a restorative environment include: Being away - different from everyday environments Extent – Possess Enough scope and organization Fascination – Evokes effortless attention Kaplan, 1995 Compatibility- A purpose fit component • MODERN DAY environments are only created to suite everyday living and working which offer less restorative health benefits (Thompson, 2010), • NATURE RELATED ENVIRONMENTS like forests, wilderness and mountains are considered to possess significantly the possibility of enhancing restoration from stress through passive and active contact.
4 WHY WE NEED THIS STUDY! Quasi (confined or laboratory) environments: participants viewing through a window or viewing nature scenes through video, picture slides and simulations. QUASI/LABORATORY REAL SITE White (2013), Berto et al (2010), Han, K. MIX MILIEU T. (2010), Van den Berg et al. (2010), Tsunetsugu et al. Chang et al.(2008), Berto, (2007), Han, K. (2013), Martens et al. Berman et al. RESEARCH T. (2007), Hartig & Staats (2006), Berto, (2011), Annerstedt et al. (2008), Kaplan, R. (2005), Staats & Hartig (2004), De (2010), Cole & Hall MILIEU R. (2001), Vries et al. (2003), Herzog et al. (2003), (2010), Hartig et al. Hartig, T. et al. Laumann et al. (2003), Staats et al. (2003), Tennessen & (1997) (2003), Herzog et al. (2002), Laumann et Cimprich (1995) al. (2001), Purcell et al. (2001), Herzog et al. (1997), Ulrich et al. (1991), Ulrich, R. S. (1981) Ulrich, R. S. (1979) Real-site nature related environments: largely done in forests while mountain environments have merely been mentioned as part of picture slides or video simulations. psychometric self report measures: to determine the magnitude of psychological human response to environmental stimuli. Very few combined both psychological and physiological measures . Assessment of nature and human wellbeing relationships: a synergetic approach of the mix of real site and psycho-physiological mode of measurement. No study was found on the restorative benefits of contact with mountain landscape environment.
5 OBJECTIVE 1 RQ1 To identify the feature(s) What feature of the of the mountain mountain environment landscape environment yield higher restorative potentially influential to benefits in terms of human perception and psychological psychological response wellbeing? AIM RQ2 OBJECTIVE 2 To examine the mechanism What degree would the To investigate the and intricacies of the link mountain landscape magnitude to which between restorative environment influence mountain environments environments, human recovery from directed can stimulate human response and wellbeing in a attention and stress? psychological and mountain landscape physiological well-being environment. RQ3 OBJECTIVE 3 What aspects of the To determine the ambient mountain significance of the environment conditions ambient mountain combine to elicit human environment conditions physiological wellbeing? on human physiological wellbeing.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 6 AESTHETIC-AFFECTIVE THEORY AAT Visual contact with most natural settings by a stressed individual is likely to foster positive feelings, hold interest and mitigate stressful thoughts resulting in recuperation. Related to visual perceptions of natural environments. Ulrich (1986) STRESS RECOVERY THEORY ATTENTION RESTORATION THEORY ART SRT Natural environments play an essential role An encounter with most unthreatening in human functioning through the process of natural environment by stressed restorative experience (Kaplan, 1992). The individuals would yield restorative theory focuses on: benefits while many urban environment • four conceptual components of a restorative will mitigate recovery (Ulrich et al. 1991). environment and Its focus is mainly on the psychological • Environmental configurations that are and physiological stress reduction benefits likely to contribute to restorative experience of contact with natural environments.
7 RESEARCH APPROACH AND PARADIGM A cause and effect strategy comparing contact with the urban environment and mountain landscape environment
WHERE? 8 Undulating landscape Hardscape Long vista Population density River Heavy traffic Waterfall Commercial activities Forest reserve
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY? 9 Variables Variables Variables RO2 RO1 RO3 PSYCHOLOGICAL AMBIENT CONDITIONS PREFERENCE Perceived stress Temperature River, Forest, Built, Waterfall, Perceived Restorativeness Humidity Mountain vantage point, PHYSIOLOGICAL Artificial water park Blood pressure, Pulse Rate PERCEPTION and Respiratory Rate Calmness, Stress relief, Excitement, Anxiousness
PROCEDURE 10 PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASURES Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) Cohen et al. AMBIENT ENVIRONMENT (1983). Perceived restorativeness scale CONDITIONS PREFERENCE (PRS) Hartig et al. (1997) Data Logger AND PERCEPTION PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES Photo questionnaire Standard Mercury Sphygmomanometer, Clock
FINDINGS 11 • cultural bias due to familiarity of the individuals Not prefered Slightly prefered Neutral with the structured features and not innate Prefered Highly prefered 70 human characteristics is responsible for their 58.5 Participants response % 60 preference. 50 40.3 39.3 37.8 40 31.6 RO1 28.5 27.8 • Perception of the restorative potential of the 24.7 24.4 30 21.8 20.6 20.2 16.5 20 13 mountain landscape environment varies across 12.4 11.2 11.7 10.3 10.9 10.2 8.2 7.1 5.7 4.7 10 2.6 age groups 0 River Forest Water fall mountain Water park feature feature feature vantage point Obudu mountain attributes
FINDINGS cont’d 12 • Being away and compatibility explains restorativeness and stress mitigation leading to wellbeing with regards to mountain landscape environments. • feeling of fascination and extents in the mountain landscape environment does not indicate restoration from stress. • Interest, pleasantness and tranquillity were found to be additional components of restorative environment. • Systolic blood pressure increased while diastolic blood pressure and RO2 pulse rate decreased both in individuals and across age groups. • respiratory rate did not indicate any tangible differences both in individuals and across the age groups. • female respiratory rate increased at the mountain landscape environment slightly while male respiratory rate decreased. • experiential contact with the mountain landscape environment influenced individual’s ability to attain a relaxed state through the reduction of their diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate. Urban Mountain Urban Mountain Urban environment Mountain environment 135 100 Systolic blood pressure(mmhHg) Diastolic blood pressure(mmHg) 25 130 80 20 125 Respiratory rate (c/m) 60 120 15 115 40 10 110 20 5 105 0 0 100 20-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 male female 20-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 Age group of respondents Gender Age group of respondents
13 • Temperature and humidity are aspects of the mountain landscape environment conditions that combine to influence human physiological wellbeing. RO3 • This was found to have influenced the increase in systolic blood pressure but decrease in both diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate. • Being away component of the mountain landscape environment includes a combined psychological and physiological feeling. SEEN AND UNSEEN Ambient Std. Sig. (2- Environment Mean t condition Deviation tailed) Urban 30.5536 4.22536 Temperature 21.313 .000 Mountain 21.8662 2.26017 Urban 44.9367 20.10641 Humidity -11.815 .000 Mountain 75.0163 10.47910
14 THEORETICAL IMPLICATION study affirms the aspect of the AAT which asserts that visual contact with natural environments would enhance positive feelings, arouse interest and alleviate stress leading to restoration of wellbeing. ART- The outcome of this study supports being away and compatibility phenomenon as components of a restorative mountain landscape AAT ART SRT environment but did not support fascination and extent. This study supports the general aspect of SRT which advocates that contact with particular natural environments stimulates physiological makeup resulting in stress reduction. The second aspect linking stress recovery in natural landscape environments to human innate configuration found no support in this study.
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