Restorative effects of nature
experience: Theoretical and
methodological considerations
Terry Hartig
Institute for Housing and Urban Research
and
Department of Psychology
Uppsala University
Some pathways through which natural environment can affect the health of
broad segments of populations. Four of the pathways go through contact
with nature, whereas two others go directly from the natural environment to
air quality and stress, respectively, implying that the natural environment
may affect health without an individual or group consciously engaging with
nature as such. From Hartig, Mitchell, de Vries, & Frumkin (2014).
Components of the Stress Pathway
Nature can displace or otherwise protect
people from stressful exposures (mitigation).
Nature can afford opportunities to acquire new
adaptive resources (instoration).
Nature can support renewal of adaptive
resources that have become depleted in
meeting everyday demands (restoration).
Stress
Perspective
Coping
Perspective
Restoration
Perspective
Theoretical
Premise
Heavy
demands can
undermine
adaptation.
Readily
available
resources
support
adaptation.
Adaptation
requires
periodic
restoration.
Practical
Premise
Interventions
can eliminate
or mitigate
demands.
Interventions
can ensure the
availability of
resources.
Interventions
can enhance
opportunities
for restoration.
Complimentary perspectives on adaptation and health and on provision of
adaptational support as a basis for promoting health (from Hartig, 2008).
Two Key Terms
Restoration: a rubric covering processes through which depleted adaptive capacities are renewed.
Restorative environment: an environment that promotes (and not only permits) restoration.
• permits – by allowing a sense of psychological distance (i.e., relative absence)
• promotes – by stimulating and encouraging positive engagement (i.e., relative presence)
These are inherently relational terms.
See for example Hartig (2007).
The Social Ecology of Stress and Restoration
People cycle through stress arousal and
restoration processes.
Stress-restoration cycles are regulated by
activity cycles (which encompass behavior
settings and movements among them).
Social, economic and other structural factors
influence individuals’ activity cycles.
Theory Antecedent
condition
Role of environmental
experience in restoration
Attention
restoration theory
(ART)
(Kaplan, 1995)
directed
attention
fatigue
being away, fascination,
extent, compatibility
Psycho-
evolutionary theory
(PET)**
(Ulrich et al., 1991)
psycho-
physiological
stress
environmental contents and
attributes of visual stimulus
array
Two Current Theories of Restorative Experience
** Also referred to as stress reduction theory (SRT)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Priests_traveling_across_kealakekua_bay_for_first_contact_rituals.jpg
Theory Antecedent
condition
Role of environmental
experience in restoration
ART directed
attention fatigue
being away, fascination,
extent, compatibility
PET (SRT) psycho-
physiological
stress
environmental contents and
attributes of visual stimulus
array
Existing or
possible
various permitting and/or promoting?
General theory
of restorative
environments
(GTRE)
combinations of
one or more
form of depleted
capacity
psychological distance and
positive engagement
Measures for the Study of Restorative Experience
Type Strengths Weaknesses
”Actual”
restoration
Stronger evidence of practically
meaningful environmental effects
Costly, reduces options for
environmental sampling
Perceived
restoration
Inexpensive relative to repeated
measures meant to capture
actual change
Retrospective reports of
change may be sensitive to
demand characteristics, etc.
Perceived
likelihood of
restoration
Simple, taps into accumulated
experience, suited to studies of
planned (simulated) settings
Uncertain correspondence
with restoration actually
realized on given occasions
Restorative
quality
Appropriate for testing claims
about the mediating process
Available measures (based
on ART) have a variety of
shortcomings
Sample Items, Perceived Restorativeness
Scale (PRS)
Being Away subscale
• Being here gives me a break from my everyday
routine.
• This place is a refuge from unwanted distractions.
Fascination subscale
• My attention is drawn to many interesting things.
• There is much to explore and discover here.
Streetscape image with lowest
mean rating for restoration
likelihood (M = 2.33, SD = 1.62).
Streetscape image with closest-
to-average mean rating for
restoration likelihood (M = 3.86,
SD = 1.81).
Streetscape image with highest
mean rating for restoration
likelihood (M = 5.23, SD = 2.02).
From Lindal & Hartig (2013).
Mediation model with being away and fascination as mediators of the
effects of physical environmental components of urban streetscapes on
judgments of restoration likelihood. N = 145 images, 39-49 raters (Icelandic
adults) per psychological variable per image. From Lindal & Hartig (2013).
Streetscape image with lowest
mean restoration likelihood rating
(M = 2.43, SD = 2.19).
Streetscape image with closest-to-
average mean restoration likelihood
rating (M = 4.24, SD = 1.74).
Streetscape image with highest
mean restoration likelihood rating
(M = 6.74, SD = 2.51).
From Lindal & Hartig (2015).
Images by Pall Jakob Lindal
Window view with lowest mean rating
for restoration likelihood (M = 1.43, SD
= 2.67)
Window view with closest-to-average
mean rating for restoration likelihood
(M = 3.62, SD = 1.86)
Window view with highest mean
rating for restoration likelihood
(M = 5.87, SD = 2.29)
From Masoudinejad & Hartig (under review).
Images by Sepideh Masoudinejad
Park with highest mean rating
for restoration likelihood
(M = 7.73, SD = 1.01)
Park with lowest mean rating for
restoration likelihood (M = 2.18,
SD = 1.72)
Park with closest-to-average mean
rating for restoration likelihood (M =
4.82, SD = 1.78)
From Nordh, Hartig, Hagerhall, & Fry (2009).
Photos by Helena Nordh
The effect of garden greenery on self‐perceived health as mediated by restorative quality variables and visitation in serial. The values represent unstandardized regression coefficients with standard errors in parentheses. N = 290 older people in 72 care homes. *P < 0·05. From Dahlkvist et al. (2016).
Model Mediator (∆T2-T5) Moderator (∑T2 to T5) Summary
B(SE) P B(SE) P R2 (R2adj)
I→∆BA→∆BDI 1.82 (0.58) 0.004 0.55 (0.24) 0.029 0.35 (0.30)
I→∆FA→∆BDI 2.19 (0.64) 0.002 0.15 (0.20) 0.445 0.32 (0.26)
Tests of mediation of change in depression severity (ΔBDI)
during a therapeutic horticulture intervention (I) by change
in experiences of being away (ΔBA) and fascination (ΔFA)
(N = 28 adults with clinical depression).
From Gonzalez, Hartig, Patil, Martinsen, & Kirkevold (2010).
Environmental Conditions as Stressors
versus Constraints on Restoration
To what extent do unwanted sound (noise), air
pollution and other environmental conditions
work against health by taxing adaptive resources
versus hindering the recovery of resources
depleted in efforts to meet other demands?
Estimates in different settings will reflect on the
added value of considering their restorative
quality versus simply considering how stressful
they are.
middle
east
west
Sampling around 31 sound
measurement points in three
areas of the lower Inn valley,
Austria
Innsbruck
to S
alzb
urg
Structural equation model showing the estimated effects of perceived traffic-related
exposures on health and residential satisfaction. Calculations for the direct, indirect
and total effects based on these coefficients are given in the panels below the path
model. To enhance readability, manifest indicators for latent constructs and error
terms are omitted. From Von Lindern, Hartig, & Lercher (2016).
Cool Summer Weather as a Constraint
on Restoration
Unseasonably cold summer weather is not ordinarily a stressor of itself, as people can easily cope by remaining indoors. This may however imply reduced involvement in outdoor activities that are relatively restorative.
Restriction of restorative outdoor activities due to cold summer weather can contribute to outcomes in which chronic stress has an etiological role.
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 7 13 19 25 31 37 43 49 55 61 67 73 79 85 91
96 Months from 1/1991 through 12/1998
Me
an
Mo
nth
ly T
em
pe
ratu
reMean monthly temperature in Sweden 1991-98 (in °C).
Defined daily doses (DDD) per 1000 inhabitants of
antidepressants dispensed monthly by the state pharmacy
system to the Swedish population during the 114 months
beginning July, 1990 (males left panel, females right
panel) (from Hartig, Catalano, & Ong, 2007).
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
jul-90 jul-91 jul-92 jul-93 jul-94 jul-95 jul-96 jul-97 jul-98 jul-99
114 Months Begining July 1990
DD
D fo
r fe
ma
les
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
jul-90 jul-91 jul-92 jul-93 jul-94 jul-95 jul-96 jul-97 jul-98 jul-99
114 Months Begining July 1990
DD
D fo
r M
ale
s
June July August
Test month
temperature
(men)
-.0524 (.0465) -.0747* (.0325) .0475 (.0433)
Test month
temperature
(women)
-.1317 (.1116) -.2159** (.0717) .1212 (.1174)
Estimated parameters for monthly dispensation of defined
daily doses of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors per
1000 persons to men and women in Sweden, 1991–98.
Note. Standard errors in parentheses. *p < .05, one-tailed. **p < .01, one-tailed.
Natural logarithm of the monthly odds of very low weight
birth (< 1500 g) for infants in Sweden during the 38 years
1973-2010 (males left panel, females right panel)(from
Hartig & Catalano, 2013).
June July August
Test month
temperature
(males)
-.0593** (.0282) -.0289 (.0259) -.0453* (.0271)
Test month
temperature
(females)
-.0357 (.0301) .0394 (.0252) -.0146 (.0308)
Estimated parameters for the log odds of very low weight
birth (< 1500 g) for male and female infants in Sweden,
1973-2010. From Hartig & Catalano (2013).
Note. Standard errors in parentheses. *p < .05, one-tailed. **p < .01, one-tailed.
The Social Ecology of Stress and Restoration
People cycle through stress arousal and
restoration processes.
Stress-restoration cycles are regulated by
activity cycles (which encompass behavior
settings and movements among them).
Social, economic and other structural factors
influence individuals’ activity cycles.
Vacation Legislation and Collective Restoration
Legislative action can improve access to relatively
restorative environments not only by promoting
environmental design that enhances restorative
quality, but also through the social regulation of
time for restoration.
Theory and research converge in support of the
argument that large-scale vacationing can enable
the spread of psychological benefits beyond those
people who are taking time away from paid work.
Variation in the number of vacationing Swedish workers (in
10 000’s) over 147 months (January, 1993 - March, 2005).
From Hartig, Catalano, Ong, & Syme (2013).
Men
20-64
Women
20-64
Men
>64
Women
>64
Vacationers -.0030**
(.0007)
-.0028**
(.0008)
-.0023**
(.0008)
-.0031**
(.0008)
July -.2333*
(.1249)
-.3100**
(.1497)
-.2599*
(.1538)
-.2553*
(.1466)
Coefficients (standard errors in parentheses) from models of
defined daily doses of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors,
dispensed monthly from January, 1993 through March, 2005,
per 1000 Swedish men and women.
Note: The dispensation variables were transformed to natural logarithms and
adjusted for autocorrelation prior to analysis, The estimates reflect additional
adjustments for autocorrelation and control variables.
*p < .05, one-tailed. **p < .01, one-tailed.
Closing Remarks
Research into restorative experience gains from
awareness of aspects of its social ecology, such
as relations among behavior settings and the
social regulation of time for restoration.
For a person with some depleted resource(s),
restoration will be carried by person-environment
transactions characterized by psychological
distance and positive engagement; it is not an
automatic outcome of objective exposures.
References
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